Before I die
by goijh
Summary: Kagome gets scared by something that Inuyasha does. It makes her realize the possiblity of dying in the feudal era. She doesn't want to die with regrets. She confesses her feelings to Inuyasha but what happens when Kikyo appears? Same title, NEW Story!
1. Author's Note: Read this before the stor...

Author's note:  
  
Hey everyone! It's Goijh here and I just wanted to let you know some things.  
  
1.) This story is NOT the same Before I die that I had posted before. It's a revised version with new chapters and new plot.  
  
2.) The new chapters don't start until after chapter three. Then the beginning of chapter four is the same as the original (If you've read it before) but the end is COMPLETELY different!  
  
3.) If there is a lemon in this story (And there most likely will be) then I won't post it on fanfiction.net. I am considering registering with MM.org and if I do then then lemon will be there. If not then I am also thinking about putting the new version of this on AFF.net. If I don't do either of those though, then I will email the lemon chapter to you upon request. I'll let you know more about that when that time comes ^_^  
  
Okay...And for anyone who read this: HERE'S A BONUS!  
  
This is a quick one shot thing that I wrote when I was completely bored. Its about Sesshomaru, Rin, and Jaken...lol! Just read it. You might just find it...ahem...interesting...  
  
This is a random scene with Rin and Jaken inspired by...well technically nothing. But that's beyond the point now itsn't it?  
  
"Oh Jaken-sama!" A child's cheerful voice called out, breaking the silence of the night.  
The toad in question froze midstep. Paralyzed by the fear the suddenly seeped into his bones when the shrill sound of the girl's summon reached his ears. His yellow orbs grew wide in unveiled horror.  
He could hear the soft pit pat of bare feet racing across the grass.  
She was coming closer and closer.  
His pulse spead. If there was a merciful god he would have surely given the ugly minute youkai a heart attack and spare him from the suffering coming his immediate way.  
The footsteps were coming closer, picking up in speed. A squeal of unabashed delight cut through the air. Rin had found him.  
It was no wonder that Jaken was an atheist.  
The miserable toad whirled around in slow motion. His eyes grew wider and wider until anyone who saw him would be quite sure that they would fall out at any given moment. His pupils shrunk into tiny black dots, almost nonexistant as his terrified gaze fell upon the monster approaching him.  
Running across the field at a speed Jaken could swear no human could reach, was a young girl. A sadistic smile stretched from ear to ear across her face. If one glanced at her they would only think that she was grinning in pure joy. But oh no, that was not the case. It seemed only Jaken could see the true malevolence behind the innocent exterior.  
Rin continued to run toward her misfortunate substitute gaurdian while Sesshomaru was away. Her arms were thrown out, pushing against the resisting air in an unstoppable effort to throw themselves against the slimy little green man.  
"Rin has found you Jaken-sama!" The little ningen cried out in triumph. Jaken winced at the sound of her voice. To him, the girl looked exactly like a dangerous neko who had just cornered its prey, and Jaken was the poor little mouse.  
Rin was almost upon him. He flinched once more, but his feet would not move. Everyone knew that cat's liked to play with their food. The tiny youkai could not bring himself to imagine what tortures the girl would inflict on him this time.  
But wait! What fun was it to play with your food if it didn't move?  
If Thomas Edison had existed, a luminous light bulb would have lit up over the toad's head, shining like the sun with the brilliance of his sudden burst of inspiration.  
He would play dead!  
He was, after all, a very good actor in his youth.  
The god's wept in pity for the poor little demon's stupidity.  
Rin ceased in her attack when, before her eyes, Jaken-sama let out a moan that sounded oddly constipated and crumpled to the ground in an unceremonious heap. His tongue dramaticly flopped out of his mouth as his yellow eyes closed tightly.  
He didn't move.  
"Jaken-sama?" Rin questioned, concern for her hideous baby sitter evident in her voice as she crept closer.  
No response.  
Rin was now standing over the limp body of the toad demon. He wouldn't look at her, nor talk to her and for some reason his entire body was trembling. Was Jaken sick?  
The worrie girl fell to her knees next to the form of her temporary protector and put a small hand on his forehead. She didn't seem to mind the slimy texture of his skin as she bit her tongue in concentration, feeling for a sign of a fever.  
'What is the baka ningen doing?' Jaken wondered, not daring to open his eyes as he heard her drop down beside him. It took all of his will power not to scream when he felt something on his head. IT was touching him! IT was contaminating him!  
Rin's face screwed up into an adorable frown as she pulled her hand away. She could of sworn she heard a sigh of relief when she did so. But when she looked down, Jaken was still the same as he had been. Except that his shaking had increased tenfold and his face was grimacing in pain.  
'Good!' Jaken thought, his religious beliefs suddenly restored when he felt her hand leave his forehead, 'She's lost interest! My ingenious idea is working! Now she'll go away.'  
How wrong he was.  
"Jaken-sama?" Rin inquired again , this time poking him in the shoulder.  
It was nothing short of amazing how quickly god could be disestablished.  
Poke.  
Poke.  
Jaken's trembling abrupty ceased. He was petrifed. He was sure that all of his limbs were going to decay and fall of in an excurciating manner. IT was still touching him! He had no idea where IT had been! And what about all the diseases the ningen must carry! The toad whimped mentally. His death was most assuredly going to be a slow and painful one...  
POKE.  
POKE.  
Rin's attempts to waken the youkai became more distinct as her chubby finger jabbed his shoulder almost violently.  
'I'm dead. I'm dead. IT can't hurt me. I'm dead' Jaken chanted the mantra in his head. Oddly enough, he found NO comfort in it.  
"Jaken-sama! Wakey wakey! Jaken-sama! Wakey wakey!" Rin began to chant in a singsong voice as her violent jabs developed a rythym.  
Jaken could not move. He could feel the bruises already forming on his scaly skin. No doubt now. He was going to die. At the hands of this...this...NINGEN! Silently he began to pray. He might as well pay homage to any god that would listen to him now. Maybe one actually existed and would take pity on his miserable soul.  
Suddenly Rin's movements ceased.  
Jaken strained his senses.  
Nothing.  
Did she finally leave?  
Jaken waited.  
Still nothing.  
Finally, after waiting close to ten minutes and working about the courage to do so, he cracked open one yellow eye....  
"JAKEN-SAMA!"  
Little arms wrapped themselves around him in a vice grip and the youkai's eyes bugged out. His ears were ringing painfully from the shrill squeal and he was already going deaf.  
But that was not the worst of his promblems.  
The THING was squeezing him to death! IT was actually trying to kill him.  
Sadistic laughter reached his ears, floating up in the form of grateful giggles.  
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Jaken cried out. From some hidden part of him he found the energy and ability to move. He began to struggle futiley against the iron binds of the creatures arms. Franticly his eyes sought out something.  
Anything.  
Was there nothing that could save him?  
Suddenly a light shone upon the unfortunate retch. Jaken's yellow eyes grew wide as before him a etheral creature alighted before him.  
There was a god!  
"Rin. Release him." A cold, emotionless voice commanded. The monster consented immediately and began to skip away, satisfied with the torture it had inflicted. But before it did, it lingered just long enough to deliver a final cryptic message that would send Jaken into incurable paranoia.  
"Rin knew Jaken-sama wasn't dead. Rin can't wait to play some more."  
Then IT was gone, fleeing to somewhere behind the toad's savoir.  
Jaken turned to his messiah, the unadulterated desire to worship unmasked and radiating in his gaze. Before him stood God in the form of a powerful inu youkai. The belittled youkai watched in awe as silver hair danced in the gentle night breeze. His greedy eyes absorbed all of his lord's features, from the pointed ears and mysterious markings, to the fluffy tail and regal robes.  
"Sesshomaru-sama..." the lowly toad whispered, surprised that he had the audacity to even think his god's name let alone speak eat.  
The awesome creature merely stared down at him in cold disdain. He had spared the youkai's life. He owed him no other favor. And to say the least, the look of pure love in the toad's eyes was...unsettling.  
With that determined Sesshomaru turned and walked away.  
Jaken numbly pulled himself to his feet and began to follow his savoir. He would follow him to the end of his days. His eyes continued to glisten with unshed tears of onconceivable joy. He would always follow his savoir. He would serve him, worship him - He was his loyal slave.  
Sesshomaru continued on ignoring the toad that was stalking him like a zombie. With a flick of the wrist he beckoned Rin to follow. The girl happily complied but Jaken seemed not to notice.  
Only one clear thought was going through the demon's head.  
'There is a god...'  
He was in love.  
  
THE END! (Don't ask. ^_^;;) 


	2. Default Chapter

Before I Die  
  
by Goijh  
  
Disclaimer: I own Inuyasha. Just like I own the internet. Just like Kenshin Himura and Sessy-chan are my personal slaves that I keep in my bedroom closet. Oh and Rumiko Taka....um....that person....She doesn't exist. (I wish for all but the last to be true because if the last were true then there would be no Inu-chan and i would be a VERY lonely person.....)  
  
This is my first fan fic so PLEASE be nice to me. If you hate it tell me...I'm a big girl and I promise not to cry...If you love it tell me. (That would encourage me to update and keep writing it!) Also, for a fair warning: I have no idea where I want this story to go. I just kinda get bursts of inspiration or random ideas and I act upon them. I think that maybe subconciously I know where this is supposed to go and like on a spiritual journey, I will know when I get there. (Now that was all of bit....... idiotic and queer?)  
  
Anyway REVIEW and ENJOY!  
  
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Chapter one  
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"Where is she?!?" demanded Inuyasha with a growl. As usual, Kagome was late, and as usual Inuyasha was pissed off about it. "If that wench doesn't get back here soon I'm going to go get her and drag her back here!" he declared. 'Just who does she think she is, making me wait like this?' He thought to himself as he peered over the edge of the well again. Scowling he jumped over and through the well, only about ten seconds later.  
  
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It was still early in the morning when Kagome awoke. The sun had only just peeked over the horizon and her room was still tinted a pale pink with the dawn's light. Yawning and stretching at the same time, she rolled over and ... THUMP! ..rolled right out of the bed, onto the floor.  
Moaning, she rubbed her bottom. She hadn't realized she was quite that close to the edge of the bed when she decided to do that. As she slowly got up she heard an all too familiar, "Feh!" Jumping she turned and saw Inuyasha causually leaning against the wall next to her window. "Are you always this clumsy in the morning or are you just too stupid to know when you're on the edge of your bed?" He asked with a smug smirk as he crossed the room to tap on her head.  
Her face red with rage, Inuyahsa already knew what was about to happen a split second before Kagome yelled, "Osuwari!" As soon as the last syllable had been uttered from her mouth, the hanyou slammed into her floor, surprising both of them when he didn't actually break through and fall to the first story.  
"Hentai!" shrieked Kagome as she hastily pulled her clothes over her scantily clad form (It had been a very hot summer and she had only been dressed in her undergarments.) Inuyasha's ears were flattened against his head when he leapt to his feet, after the spell quickly wore off, to protect them from Kagome's shouting. "Bitch!" He screamed, "What the hell was that for?!?"  
"You arrognant dog!" She hollered back, "Just what do you think that you were doing in my room?!? And how long have you been here while I've been sleeping?!?" Seeing her so upset at this, Inuyasha soon forgot his own anger and had to fight back the urge to laugh - that is until she 'sat' him again.  
"Wench! What's your (insert a nice word here) problem?!?" He began to yell again as he held his aching back. "Besides," he muttered looking disgusted, "Why in the seven hells would I want to watch you snore?"  
Shrieking, flung a pillow at him from her bed ,which he easily caught, and stormed out of the room. Once he was sure that she was at least down the stairs he let out a little chuckle and inhaled her scent which surrounded him, clinging to everything in her room, including the pillow in his hands. "Good morning Kagome," he sighed as turned and followed her path down to the kitchen.  
  
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Almost an hour later, they were back through the well and in Feudal Japan. Kagome was still furious and was muttering under her breath about how when she said she would return in the morning it didn't mean that she would come back just as soon as the clock struck midnight. Inuyasha could hear everything she said of course and it took all of his will power not to curse at her or break out laughing.  
They hadn't been there long though when a blur of fur streaked past Inuyasha and scurried up Kagome, burying its face in her chest. "Kagome! I missed you so much!" Cried Shippo as he nuzzled her neck in a form of hello. Inuyasha couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as he watched all of this happen, and that just pissed him off even more than he already was.  
"Come on," he grumbled, "We've already wasted half of the morning thanks to Kagome. We don't have time to just stand here and be friendly. We have shards to find!"  
Upon saying this he recieved glares from both Kagome and Shippo.  
'What?!?' he thought to himself, 'What did I say?' Kagome and Shippo just walked straight past the confused hanyou, completely ignoring him as they made their way to the village.  
They reached Kaede's hut just in time to hear a loud WHACK! and see Miroku get thrown out the door by an angry Sango and land at Kagome's feet. A large grin crossed over his face as he looked up. He was almost directly underneath her and it provided an enticing view for the monk of Kagome's legs and...ahem...more.  
"Why Kagome-sama, so nice to s-" WHACK! Miroku's comment was cut short by another attack by Sango's hiraikotsu, this time knocking the houshi unconcious. "Hentai," was all that Sango said before she smiled and waved to Kagome.  
Kagome sighed. Obviously nothing had changed since her last visit. Sighing again she peeked at Inuyasha from the corner of her eye. He still wasn't making any effort to apologize to her for this morning, or even make any gesture to show that he cared about her in the slightest way. 'Oh well', she thought sadly, 'Some things just aren't meant to change.'  
Inuyasha noticed as her face fell and her expression saddened. He also took note that it had happened after she had tried to secretly glance at him. 'Have I done something to make her sad?' He thought shocked. Before he could dwell on it anymore though, Kagome surprised them all when she looked up with her usual cheerful smile and said, "Well...What are we waiting for? Let's go find some Shikon shards!" Miroku moaned at her feet.  
  
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The IY gang lost no time in setting out to look for the Shikon Shards. Or at least Inuyasha didn't. Even if Kagome herself hadn't suggested that they continue their quest, the hanyou would've made them anyway.  
Ignoring the protesting moans coming from the unconcious monk, Inuyasha threw him over Kiarara's back in an undignified manner and barked at Sango to hurry up and join him. Then without another word he grabbed Kagome, with Shippo curled aroung her neck, and tossed her onto his back, barely giving her a chance to wrap her arm around his waist to hold on before he took off, leaping off to his forest in graceful bounds.  
Feeling her arm hold him tightly as he heard her gasp of surprise and smelled her fear, brought a smile to his face. This was his favorite part of jewel hunting. When he felt her begin to calm down before he was ready for her too, he pushed himself off a branch, into the air as high as he could go, and then allowed himself to go into a dive posistion, plummeting towards the forest floor that was rushing up at his face.  
  
Kagome felt herself relax. It had startled her when Inuyasha had taken off so quickly, he normally waited for her to safely situate herslef before he took off. 'Well on the other hand,' she thought, 'he has been doing this a lot more often lately.' Just as she had begun to finally feel safe on his back, she felt them rising up into the sky, almost as if Inuyasha was trying to reach the clouds. For a moment the feeling was exilerating...Then she felt them begin to dive down to te ground and opened her mouth in a silent scream as she saw the forest floor racing at her.  
They were almost there. Another split second and they would be lying splattered on the cold hard ground. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the inevitable death that she was sure was coming.  
  
Inuyasha smelt (is that really a word?) the wave of her fear as it washed over him. Then a new scent came that startled him, despair. For a moment he was paralyzed, hurtling to the ground at an amazing speed, and not knowing what to do. But when he felt Kagome bracing herslef he snapped back to attention and landed smoothly, well okay a little rougher than he would have liked, on the ground. Without pausing to rest or check on Kagome though, he took off again, this time staying to the forest floor.  
  
Kagome opened her eyes. 'What happened? Am I dead?!?' her mind raced wildly as she thought tried to explain why she was not currently lying in a puddle under the trees. Then, as she felt the breeze in her hair and felt her body gently bouncing up and down on Inuyasha's back, she realized what had happened.  
Inuyasha felt her body tremble, quivering with rage. 'Idiot!' He mentally cursed himself. 'Why'd you have to do something like that?!?' Then he remembered how it had felt when she had buried her face into his hair, her legs and arms tightening around him. With a gasp he realized that thinking this way was arousing him as he felt ...a certain physical attribute...hardening at these thoughts. 'What the hell?!?'  
Stifling the thoughts that were causing him to begin to think with parts of his body, other than his head, Inuyasha forced himself to focus on the pain the he would be feeling as soon as they stopped. His mind recalled the excruciating feeling of an unnatural force slamming him into te ground so hard that he created craters 10 feet deep. Needless to say he was no longer aroused. Infact now he was pissed off. But whether it was at himself for being such an ass or at Kagome for the punishments she would surely deal out to him, he wasn't sure.  
  
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Sango was paralyzed. She was sure that her friends were going to die and there was nothing that she could do about it. She was on the brink of tears when suddenly she saw Inuyasha almost effortlessly pull out of his suicide dive and continue leaping on his way. Unscathed.  
Sango was shocked. What had just happened? Then the realization set in. He had done it on purpose! She felt her self growing angry at the thought of what that damn hanyou had just done. He had scared the shit out of her and doubtless out of Kagome and Shippo as well. Fury glazed over her eyes as she began to mentally picture all of the tortures she would inflict upon Inuyasha for this one. Oh he would most certainly pay.  
She became so absorbed in thinking of how she would deal out all sorts of pain to the hanyou that she was completely oblivious to the houshi that was groggily awakening in front of her. Miroku, however, was completely aware of her present predicament and decided that this was his oppurtune moment. 'Nothing like a wake up grope,' he thought to himself as he allowed on of his hands to stealthily snake around to Sango's backside.  
The demon exterminator was forcefully pulled back to reality by a squeezing sensation on her LOWER lower back. Realizing what it must be she looked down at the monk, who was pretending to be unconcious, but was unable to hide his perverted grin - explaining just what the sensation Sango was feeling was. Before Miroku could even open his eyes he was once again knocked out, laying across Kiarara's back with a red handprint decorating the side of his cheek.  
  
REVIEW PLEASE AND TELL ME IF YOU LIKED IT OR IF YOU HATED IT......JUST REVIEW! I WANT TO GET AT LEAST 5 REVIEWS BEFORE I POST THE NEXT CHAPTER (WHICH BY THE WAY IS ALL READY WRITTEN AND UPLOADED. ALL IT NEEDS IS A LITTLE ENCOURAGEMENT!)  
  
~ Goijh 


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter 2  
  
Before I die by Goijh  
  
Author's note: Do to the overwhelming response in reviews and e- mails....Before I die is going to be altered! This means that the story will not be the same as before, starting with a new identity for the stalker. These first few chapters will be the original ones though with only slight altercations. If anyone would like to read what I did have in store for the original (I had up to chapter 14 written...or was it 15?) then you can just e-mail me and I'll try to send them to you. Remember to review you peoples! It puts a smile on my face when you do! ^_^ ...And it makes me want to write MORE...FASTER.  
  
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chapter two  
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"INUYASHA!"  
Inuyasha winced at the loud shriek so near to his delicate ears (which I happen to think are SO adorable!). He almost wished that he had never stopped. Despite the fact that she had been kicking and punching his sides and yelling into his ears, he wished that he was still leaping through the forest. 'Anywhere but here...' he thought.  
Kagome's face was the scariest that he had ever seen it. Rage blanketed her normally gentle features and the fires in her eyes looked hotter than those of hell. "Hmmm...?" he whispered in a pitiful voice. Step by step, Kagome moved towards him, and backing up, step by step, Inuyasha moved away, until he backed into a tree. 'Shit! no escape now,' he thought. "Uhh...Yes Kagome?" he asked in a weak voice in response to his name.  
Kagome continued to move closer to him, smiling seductively. Inuyasha felt his blood rush at that smile as she stared into his eyes. Gulping as if to swallow his fear he met her eyes. The fire was still in them. She came closer still, until she was right against him, her hands on his chest. She stood on tiptoe until her lips were even with his. He could feel her warm breath caress his face and almost gasped at the sensations it ignited. "Osuwari..." she whispered.  
BANG!  
Inuyasha slammed into the ground at the foot of the tree. When the subduing spell wore off, he didn't even bother to move. Instead he braced himself for the stampede of hated words and 'Osuwaris' to come, wincing as he thought of each one. Imagine his surprise when, after a few moments, they didn't.  
Hesitantly he raised his head. Flinching he saw that Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kiarara were surrounding him, glaring (Sango had filled Miroku in as to what had happened when they found Kagome cornering Inuyasha.). Sango hit him over the head with her hiraikotsu. HARD. But after that no one made a move, despite the fact that he was expecting them too.  
Looking up again he realized Kagome wasn't there. 'Where is she?!?' he wondered as he sniffed the air. He could still smell her. At least she hadn't gone far.  
When the others made no move to inflict further pain upon him, Inuyasha got up and began to walk away. He could feel their heated stares on his back but brushed them off as he went to find Kagome.  
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He found her quickly enough. It had only taken a few moments actually. But it wasn't until he realized where she was that surprise set in. Kagome was standing in front of the Old God Tree. He went to go to her but paused as he sniffed the air. It was heavy with salt water. She was crying. And it was all his fault.  
"Kagome...." He whispered as he began to go to her.  
"No! Don't come near me Inuyasha." She said, her voice cold and calm. This was not Kagome. He could feel his heart breaking as he looked at her. THis was all his fault. He had done this. And for what? A moment of self satisfaction.  
Without bothering to wipe away her tears she turned to him. Sadness on her face. She stared into his eyes without really looking at him. Slowly she began to speak. "I thought I was going to die today."  
"Kagome...." he whispered again. A lump rising in his throat at her distress. Distress that he had caused.  
"No! WAIT!" She cried in a shaky voice, "I need to talk. You need to listen." She turned away from him and faced the Old God Tree. He nodded dumbly.  
"I was scared today. Scared of death. But that's not what scared me the most. I was scared of what I hadn't done. I was scared that I was going to die before I had the chance to do things I needed to do. There are things that I need to tell you. Things I need to tell everyone. There I things that I need to do before I die. I thought I wouldn't be able to get the chance to say what I wanted. I wouldn't get to do what I needed. I don't want to die that way. I don't want to die with regrets. I don't want to leave behind unanswered questions when I go. I was scared that I would die before I had the chance to tell you how I feel. Before I had the chance to tell everyone how I feel..." She was quiet for a moment, but all that Inuyasha could do was watch her. Waiting for her to continue.  
Suddenly she smiled. Brushing away her tears she turned and looked at Inuyasha once again. "Do you remember when we first met?" She asked. "You saved my life...Then you tried to kill me." She laughed a little. But it was a laugh more like a sob than a laugh.  
"Kagome..." Inuyasha tried again, moving towards her. When she made not attempt to stop him he continued. Without thinking about what he was doing, he walked up right behind her and put his arms around her waist in an embrace. "I'm so sorry Kagome." He whispered softly in her ear. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I just wanted to feel your arms holding me tightly. I just wanted to feel...." Inuyasha realized what he was saying and stopped. No he couldn't do that. He couldn't say that he loved her. Not after what he did. Not after what happened with Kikyo.  
Kagome waited for him to finish his sentence. When he didn't she turned around and looked up into his eyes. Surprise softened her features as she gazed into his amber eyes. He was actually apologizing. It was only a few hours ago that she had been complaining about how he never apologized. Now, here he was. Holding her, comforting her, apologizing. She felt herself smile as she leaned her head against his chiseled chest and held him closer.  
They stood there together for what seemed an eternity. It was if time itself held still as they quietly held eachother, each taking comfort in the other's embrace. They were so caught up in themselves that they didn't notice that they were being watched.  
"Well," said a loud voice, "Its nice to see that you two have finally gotten over your differences." Inuyasha and Kagome violently snapped back to earth and looks of comprehension came over their faces. Jumping apart as if they had been burned, the hanyou and girl began to blush furiously as they looked over to where Miroku had emerged from the forest.Refusing to make eye contact they both began to mutter incoherent sentences, trying to explain what had been going on. Miroku just raised an eyebrow knowingly (or so he thought.). "Congratulations!" he said as he strolled over to Inuyasha and slapped him on the back, a hentai grin on his face. "I knew you had it in you. When can I expect the pups?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively.  
The monk looked up just in time to get a look at the scowl on Inuyasha's face before he felt a hard fist come into contact with his head and everything went blank. For the third, and probably not the last, time the houshi fell to the ground, unconcious, courtesy of his lecherous ways.  
Just as the monk hit the ground, a bundle of rusty fur came racing into the clearing. Shippo jumped to Kagome's chest and immediately turned his blue eyes up to hers. "Are you okay Kagome?" he demanded as he began to search her for scratches. "Uhhh...." answered Kagome, trying to think of what to say to the curious kitsune.  
When he found no apparent signs of damage to his 'Mother,' Shippo climbed up onto her shoulder and nuzzled her neck. "Why were you and Inuyasha gone so long?" he asked. 'Gone so long?' Kagome wondered. 'What does he mean....' Then she looked up and saw that the sun's passage marked almost two hours had passed. She began to blush again.  
'That means that Inuyasha and I were out in the woods, ALONE, for almost two hours! What must everyone be thinking?' Then she looked at Shippo. He was always painfully oblivious to things and Sango, thank Kami, was NOT anything like Miroku. MIROKU! Kagome audibly groaned as she realized what Miroku must have thought when he found them near the Old God Tree. "Kagome?" asked Shippo? "Are you okay?" Kagome only nodded. "You must have wandered really far to take so long coming back...." the little fox youkai continued but Kagome no longer heard him. Suddenly she was just wishing that she was back in Inuyasha's arms. Everything felt so right there.  
Thinking of Inuyasha made her remember why they had been at the Old God Tree in the first place though. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Kagome turned to face Sango and the hanyou. "Ummm...Well..." She began. "I have to go back to my time tomorrow to ummm...study for some tests that I have...next week." 'Yeah that was REAL smooth Kagome.' She muttered to herself as she rethought her lie.  
Sango merely raised an eyebrow. She knew Kagome and knew that if her friend was lying, she probably had a good reason and would tell her later. Shippo and Inuyasha on the other hand gaped at her. Shippo was the first to find his voice though. "What do you mean go back?" He cried looking do hurt that Kagome just had to hold him. "You never mentioned anything about tests earlier." The kitsune looked like he was about to cry. Kagome smiled at him but didn't say anything. Instead she stroked his fur softly.  
Inuyasha watched as she paid attention to the kitsune and felt that twinge of jealousy again. He felt almost like a kid at Christmas. Upset because his baby brother had gotten one more present than he had. Then he got pissed off. "What do you mean you're leaving?!?" he shouted. "We haven't gotten any jewel shards and you think that I am going to let you leave? I don't think so, Kagome. You're not leaving until I say so!"  
Smugly he crossed his arms and looked over at her as if daring her to challenge his word. Kagome's eyes were flickering like candle flames and her hands were clenched in fists at her sides. Miroku was just waking up when he saw this and decided it might be best to stay on the ground for this scene.  
"Just who do you think you are, DOG!"  
"Wench!"  
"Ass-hole!"  
"Brat!"  
"Bastard"  
"Bitch!"  
Miroku winced, as did everyone else when Inuyasha shouted out his last insult. Even the pair of eyes hidden in the forest that had watched everything, undetected, from the crying to the embracing, to the fight visibly winced. Inuyasha himself even had the decency to look surprised at his choice of words.  
"OSUWARI!"  
Miroku felt the hanyou slam into the ground only feet away from him. 'Yup, BIG sit,' he chuckled to himself. 'And to think only moments ago they were embracing like lovers...'  
  
*********************************** Okay now its your turn! As the reader I command you to now review this story. Note: This command is made with a pleading voice and irresistible puppy dog eyes. All you have to is put "..." and I will be SO happy!  
  
JUST PLEASE REVIEW!!! 


	4. Chapter Three

Before I die  
  
By: Goijh  
  
Author's note: Okay! Here is chapter three! Still almost completely the original chapter, but with a couple minor changes. If you've already read this story and remember the first chapters, than there's not really any reason to read this again. That's how small the changes are. Remember to review. It will take less than 5 minutes of your time and I will be forever grateful for it!  
  
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chapter 3  
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"Feh. Stupid wench." Inuyasha muttered from up in the tree. Try as he might he couldn't stop thinking about how it felt to hold Kagome in his arms and have her return the embrace. And that pissed him off. He thought about what he had almost said, back by the God Tree. 'I almost said that I love her,' he shook his head in disbelief. 'But maybe she feels the same way...' He closed his eyes and pictured her standing before him with tears running down her face. He had wanted to kiss away those tears. 'What was it she had said? "...before I had the chance to tell you how I feel..." Yeah that was it.'  
Inuyasha turned and towards the camp. He watched his friends as they moved around. Shippo was taking a quick nap, curled up with Kiarara, Sango was polishing hiraikotsu (though she would have to use it very soon as Miroku's hand was sneaking up behind her....hentai), and Kagome....  
Kagome was cooking them all lunch. It smelled like Ramen, his favorite. As his eyes settled on her figure his thoughts turned to her once again. 'What if she doesn't feel that way about me though? She was acting so anxious to leave tomorrow and she never said when she'd be back. She always tells me when she'll be back.' he thought sadly as he watched her make the instant Ramen. 'What did I do? Did I make her uncomfortable? Unhappy?' His head asked. 'Well duh! You idiot, you made her think that she was going to die!' Another voice in his head answered the first.  
"Ummm..Inuyasha?" A voice interupted his thoughts. He looked down to see Kagome smiling up at him. "Feh. What do you want Wench?" Kagome kept smiling, even at his use of harsh language like that. She had come to see that that was just Inuyasha. "I was just wondering if you wanted some Ramen?"  
At the mention of his favorite food, the hanyou jumped down from the tree and landed in front of her. "Stupid wench, Do you even have to ask? Now give it to me." He held out his hand expectantly. Kagome grinned up at him. "Not until you say please." Inuyasha drew back as if he had been bitten. "WHAT?!?" he demanded. "Do you honestly expect me to beg for food?" He looked appalled.  
"Its not begging." Kagome giggled. "Its just an act of common courtesy. So when you so please, I'll let you have your ramen." "Feh. Common Courtesy is just a formal way of saying beg you know." He said as he threw his shoulders back and lifted his chin high,"And I will NOT beg for ramen. I'm not a DOG you know!" Kagome stared at him wide eyed for a moment, the edge of her lips twitching. Finally she could hold it in no more.  
Kagome began to laugh so hard that she thought that she was going to collapse on the ground due to lack of oxygen. Her laughter only doubled when she looked up at the hanyou, sucking in his chest and making valiant, yet unsuccessful, attempts to retain his dignity. He finally gave in to defeat when Shippo, who had been nearby and heard the entire conversation fell to the ground he was laughing so hard. Inuyasha frowned as he watched the kitsune rolling round on the ground and Kagome try to stand up and say something between gasps for air.  
After about ten minutes, Kagome had been able to calm herself down enough to face Inuyasha. "Good one...." was all she could manage to say with a straight face. In the hanyou's confusion, his ears had twitched, sending Kagome off into another fit of laughter.  
"I'm sorry Inuyasha..." was all that she managed to say between giggles. Poor Inuyasha was still standing there completely bewildered until he heard Shippo mutter something that sounded suspiciously like, "Inu....puppy....dog..." All he could do was stare at Kagome as she sat on the ground trying to catch her breath. Now he knew what she thought was so funny.  
Without pausing to consider what the others would say, or even to acknowledge the others presence, Inuyasha pounced upon Kagome, rolling over her as they mock wrestled until he had her pinned. Straddling her,he looked down at her with a smug smirk. "So you think that's funny do you?" He asked as he poked her playfully in the side. As he did so she gasped and began to giggle again. "Inuyasha! Stop that tickles!" she squealed.  
Suddenly Inuyasha realized his advantage in this situation. "Oh...it tickles does it?" He asked with innocent puppy eyes (I would melt into a puddle at his feet if Inuyasha would tickle me and give me puppy eyes!). Kagome gasped again and her eyes grew wider. "You wouldn't..." She almost whispered. Inuyasha only smirked as he leaned his face closer to hers. Then he began to tickle her, eliciting squeals of pleasure and giggles from her. He himself couln't help but chuckle at her as she vainly tried to lift her arms to defend herself, but they were also pinned under his straddled form.  
  
Suddenly Inuyasha caught his breath in his throat. His tickling was causing Kagome to squirm and writhe between his legs, making him gasp at the sensations that she caused. He could feel the blood in his body quickly rushing to a certain apendage as it hardened. Still he did not cease to tickle the helpless girl underneath him.  
"Inu...Yasha...Stop..OH!" cried Kagome as she continued to squirm. Her cheeks were flushed and she kept calling his name, making him think of another activity that he would have loved to engage her in at that moment. At these thoughts he grew harder and was forced to suck in his breath.  
As he sucked air into his lungs, a captivating scent caught his nose, drowning all his senses. Suddenly he tensed (though he continues to tickle Kagome) 'What the hell?!?' He knew that scent. But was it....He sniffed the air. 'Oh Kami- sama! That scent's coming from Kagome!' His head yelled. She was aroused. His tickling and attention was arousing her!  
Encouraged by this new development, he increased his tickling to a fury. With a sharp intake of breath he realized the more he increased his attempts and the closer that he got to her, the stronger her scent became. By now her scent had completely captured him though and most of his thinking was being done with his loins.  
"Inuyasha...STOP!" Kagome cried still writhing pleasurably underneath him. He snapped his attention back to her and stifled the urge to stop tickling her in order to do something else that he was sure would make her squeal in the same way, except for more.  
Grinning like Miroku he leaned forward do that her nose was touching his own. He could feel her breath as she panted and it made him even more aroused, making it harder to keep his objective in mind. Tilting his head so that his lips were touching her ear lobe he whispered in a husky voice, "Beg me."  
Kagome gasped as his tickling became slower and more sensual, almost like caresses. She stared up at him wide eyed. Did she really want him to stop? As if reading her mind, Inuyasha began to tickle her feverishly again, inhaling her scent and taking pleasure in her movements. "OKAY!" she cried out between laughs, "Okay I beg you! STOP!" As soon as the words left her mouth the hanyou grinned boyishly and triumphantly, but he didn't move from atop of her.  
"Are you going to give me my ramen?" He asked innocently as he lightly traced a line down her the side of her face, trailing it down her neck, shoulder and arm. His touch was sending shivers through her spine. Kagome gasped (she seems to do that a lot. ummm... how about her breath caught in her throat?) again and nodded quickly. Inuyasha smirked smugly. "Why how generous of you." He said.  
"AHEM!" A voice from behind them cleared its throat loudly. "Are you two done yet?" It asked. Inuyasha and Kagome both went rigid in shock. They had completely forgotten that their friends were all right behind them the entire time. Blushing fiercely Inuyasha leapt off of Kagome and into the closest tree. "Feh." They heard him say as Kagome propped herself upon her elbows. "I just wanted to prove that I would NEVER beg."  
Sango merely raised an eyebrow at this while Shippo looked as confused as ever. Especially as he sniffed the air and smelled two strange scents, one belonging to Inuyasha and one to Kagome, that he had never smelt on either of them before. Inuyasha heard him sniff the air and shot the kitsune a deadly glare before the pup could even open his mouth to ask what it was.  
Miroku went over to help Kagome up. He was wearing his perverted smile again and his hand was traveling awfully low. Just as he was about to give Kagome a 'helpful' grope though, Inuyasha saw him and jumped from the tree, his fist connecting with Miroku's head before the poor monk had a chance to get a feel.  
As Miroku felt himself passing out he thought, 'Dammit, fourth time today.' And everything went black.  
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Still unknown to everyone, the eyes watched from in the forest. They were currently glancing between Kagome and Inuyasha. Lust for one, hatred for another. A slow smile curved up on the bystanders lips as the couple threw secretive glances at each other. "Soon...." The eyes whispered, "Soon..........."  
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Finally! There's that chapter out of the way. Now onward to chapter four! Then I get to write all new chapters...lol! I can't wait to get started because to tell you the truth, I have no idea what I want to do. Sure I have a few ideas swimming around in my head, but I don't know which one I'm going to pick. I guess we'll all just have to find out together! ^_^ Doesn't that just make you feel so...secure? REMEMBER TO REVIEW! 


	5. Chapter Four

Before I die  
  
by: Goijh  
  
Author's note: Here is chapter four...FINALLY! Anyways, this is where the story REALLY starts to change so you should probably start reading here if you weren't before. The next chapter will be the first all new one! YAY! Remember to review you guys. It makes me want to write and update all that much faster! (Hint hint)  
  
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Chapter 4  
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Inuyasha awoke the next morning to a peaceful forest. Sunlight was filtering in through the trees and everything was calm. It was almost like a fairy tale setting from one of the thick things with pages, 'Had she called them books?', that Kagome had read Shippo as a bedtime story (not that he would ever be interested in those!) 'Feh,' he thought. 'No way is this going to continue.'  
As if on cue an ear-splitting scream shattered the silence, followed by a loud painful WHACK!  
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"Miroku you hentai!" screamed Sango as she brought her hiraikotsu down upon the monk's skull a second time. Grinning as though oblivious to the pain that had to be washing over his head, Mrioku sighed and tried to force a serious expression across his features. "Sango, you know that this is all your fault." he said solemnly, gazing at the demon exterminator who returned his stare, speechless. "If you didn't have such a lovely backside then my subconcious inner desires wouldn't force me to sleep grope you. Then yo-"  
BANG!  
Miroku's speech was cut short as his former acquaintance, an oversized boomerang, decided to visit him again. His perverted grin only grew larger and remained plastered to his face as he fell backwards, slamming into the ground. "You baka hentai houshi!" yelled Sango as she continued, even after it was obvious that he was out cold, to bang him over the head.  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes dramaticly before finally deciding that he would actually get up. Leaping from the tree, he landed with barely a sound on the ground, in front of a lumpy sleeping bag. Standing as straight as he could so that it would appear that he was towering, he waited impatiently, involuntarily tapping his barefoot.  
"Urgh..." moaned the sleeping bag, " Do they EVER let up?" Slowly Kagome emerged from her nightime shelter and yawned. When she finally opened her eyes she squinted up at Inuyasha in curiousity. "Inuyasha?" she asked slighlty confused as she propped herself up on her elbows.  
"Feh what do you want wench?" He asked impatiently. Kagome raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. Then she noted the manner in which he was tapping his foot and hovering impatiently above her. She sighed in exasperation and then put on a really cheesy smile.  
"Why good morning to you too Inuyasha!" she began cheerfully. "Oh what's that you say? You'd like some ramen?" she continued, pretending that the hanyou would actually have the decency to ask for something rather than expect it. "Why its right in my pack! Hold on a-"  
She was cut short when one of school books flew through the air and landed on the ground. She turned to see Inuyasha rummaging through her pack, making a mess. "Oh no, of course I wouldn't mind. Just go ahead and go through all of my possessions." she mumbled sarcasticly under her breath. Inuyasha, though, could hear her and he couldn't help but smirk. 'She's so adorable when she's grouchy in the morning.' he thought to himself as he found the ramen and began to stand up straight. Suddenly he jerked up and opened his mouth, appalled at his own thoughts. 'ADORABLE?!? That words not even supposed to be in my vocabulary!' he shouted mentally. 'Besides she's a real pain in the ass when she acts like this. Like 'I' should have to ask for ramen. She should already know and just give it to me!'  
Feeling like his manhood had been proven at this silent declaration he strutted over to Kagome and just plopped the ramen down in her lap and himself down in front of her. To his amazement, she just stared at him and ignored his obvious need. "Well, wench...?" he growled. Kagome just continued to stare. 'Yeah she's a pain in my ass alright!' he muttered angrily to himself as he realized she had no intention of helping him unless he asked her. 'Doesn't she have any idea what that does to my pride?' a bitter voice in his head demanded. 'Of course she does!" an equally miserable voice responded. 'That's why she does it!'  
After waiting only a few minutes, which seemed like an eternity to the half starved hanyou (Poor him...he only ate last night...), Inuyasha relented and quietly, so that Kagome could barely hear him, asked, "Kagome, could you make me some ramen?" Kagome smiled brightly as if she had never ignored him in the first place. "Of course Inuyasha!" she giggled. 'So he didn't say please,' she thought to herself, 'But at least he finally overcame his pride and asked!' She couldn't help but grin wider as she got up and cooked his breakfast.  
Inuyasha watched as her smile grew larger and couldn't help but feel a slight pull in his chest. He couldn't believe how happy he had made her just by asking on simple little thing. He made a mental note to do that more often...well...maybe he would. Right now he was content to just watch her cook for him...'Just like a mate.' he internally sighed, unaware of what he had just thought.  
As he watched her though, he felt his thoughts wander back to the Old God Tree. He couldn't help but wonder what she had been talking about when she said she had to tell him and everyone how she felt. He knew it had only been yesterday but still, he thought that she would have said something a lot sooner. The uncertainty that she was causing was nagging at him and driving him crazy.  
Just as he resolved that he would ask her that day how about what she claimed she needed to do and how she felt, he became aware of fingers snapping arragavitingly in front of his eyes. "Hello...Earth to Inuyasha...Are you there?" Kagome asked with a peculiar look on her face as she began to wave her hands up and down before his face.  
"Feh, what are you stupid?" he demanded pulling out of his thoughts. "Of course I'm here. I'm right in front of you aren't I girl? He scowled as she merely continued to smile in response. "It's only an expression Inuyasha." she replied as she turned to make herself a meal. "You seemed like you were lost in thought, almost like you were on another world. You didn't even notice when I put your ramen in front of you." She turned to face him with her sweet smile still on her face. "I was almost worried. I thought that maybe some demon had gotten into your mind and was consuming you." With that she giggled and turned away again.  
  
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Kagome ate her breakfast thoughtfully. Inuyasha had long since finished and had left for a little while to do gods knows what. 'I wonder if I should really tell him how I feel?' she thought to herself as she recalled what she had said to him yesterday. 'But what if he rejects me? I mean, isn't he still in love with Kikyo on at least some level?' Without her noticing, a worried frown made its appearance on her face. 'I should never have said any of that!' she almost cried out. But it was too late now. Besides, it wasn't such a bad idea. She really didn't want to die before she told Inuyasha that she cared for him. And she needed to help Miroku act upon his feelings for Sango. She needed to let Shippo know that to her, he was and always would be her 'pup' (even though she suspected that he already knew that she thought that it would do him a lot of good to hear it aloud). She wanted to help Sango overcome her grief that she carried for her village and her family as well as let the older girl know just how much like a sister she was. Then there was Kouga. She needed to make sure that she got the point across that she loved him but not that way and that she wanted him to begin his search for a new candidate to be his mate.  
Sighing she leaned her head back. There was so much to do and only the gods knew how much time she had left to do it. After all, she put her life in danger daily hunting for the jewel shards. It was only a matter of time before she was injured or worse... She shuddered to think about it. 'Still....' she wasn't sure if she could confess her feelings quite yet. Sure it would be no problem to do so with Sango, Miroku, and Shippo. Kouga might prove to be a bit of a challenge (he was just so thick headed). But Inuyasha....Putting her feelings right out there like that... That was practically suicide for her heart. 'Yep, he'll be difficult.'  
  
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Inuyasha could smell her distress as he approached, but decided not to make his presence known quite yet. He wondered what she was thinking about as he watched her absently pick at her food. Whatever it was he hoped it had nothing to do with him. 'Urgh!' he pratically groaned out loud. 'What are these thoughts that I keep having? Its like I've turned soft or something.' Annoyed, Inuyasha walked into the clearing and stopped in front of Kagome.  
She almost didn't notice that he was standing right in front of her, she was deep in thought. But no one could miss that bright red outfit for long. Wearily Kagome looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Inuyasha?" she questioned his intent.  
"Well wench? Don't you have to go back to your time now?" he demanded. Startled, he watched as confusion, annoyance, and finally comprehension travelled across her face almost too quickly to follow. "Oh...um...yeah I do don't I..." she mumbled as she began to pack her possessions into her pack, refusing to meet the now completely bewildered Inuyasha's gaze.  
"Kagome..." He began to ask her if she had lied to him about the tests that she needed to study for when he was interupted by a rather large pink ballon that had clamped itself onto his head by means of its jaws. Immediately the gentle tone in his voice was replaced by one of pure irritation. "Shippo you stupid kitsune!" he cried out as he pried the inflated demon from his scalp and proceeded to beat him into the ground until Kagome caught his arm roughly and shot him a death glare.  
Inuyasha gulped. He knew better to mess with a mother's pups. And that was exactly the relationship that those two shared. He watched bitterly as the small fox ran and hid behind Kagome's legs and began to make faces at the hanyou, egging him on.  
Finally Inuyasha couldn't take it anymore. A foreign and dangerous glint came into his golden eyes. and Shippo gulped. The young kitsine recognized the look that always came over Inuyasha's face before he made a major conquest. Squealing in fear, poor Shippo let go of Kagome's legs to do the only thing that he could think of at the moment- RUN!  
Kagome, Sango and Miroku couldn't help but roar with laughter as they watched Inuyasha chase the small youkai around the camp, swearing enough to put a sailor to shame and then some, as he wove in and out of the trees, arms extending, trying desperatly to catch the kitsune and ring his neck. When Inuyasha finally caught him though, Shippo merely produced a jizo statue and ward that glued Inuyasha's claws to the ground. (For those of you who know how the two met, this is the same move that Shippo pulled then - much to Inuyasha's frustration.) Then Shippo stuck out his tongue and sought shelter behind Kagome's legs once more.  
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The ever present glowing orbs watched in digust as the hanyou and young youkai began to scream insults at each other as if they were both still pups. The face behind them twisted into an angry scowl as the young miko finally grew angry with them and shouted, "Osuwari!" causing Inuyasha to plummet into the ground. This ended the squabble by sending the kitsune into fits of giggles and filling the inu's mouth with dark earth and gods know what else.  
The eyes (is anyone besides me getting annoyed with this title here?!?) roamed freely along the miko's body as her chest heaved with her breath. The scowl deepened. How could a girl so weak and naive possibly win the inu hanyou's heart. It wasn't fair. Jealousy burned deep within the watcher's cold heart. 'Inuyasha is mine.' The thought echoed silently, yet malignantly in the person's head. The eyes closed for a minute, unable to watch the secret, compassion filled glances, that the hanyou and ningen were sending eachother without the other knowing. It made them sick to think that Inuyasha couls have possibly stooped so low as to betray her like this. 'But not for long,' The figure thought as they turned to depart. 'Soon you will be mine. ONLY mine...'  
  
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Kagome looked up from Inuyasha's sprawled form on the ground. Taking a deep breath she let her senses suspend the way that Kaede had taught her and probed the area for a presence. 'That's weird,' she thought, 'I could have sworn that I felt something...' Resolving that it must have been the wind or some forest animal, she let her senses return to normal and returned the task at hand - fighting with Inuyasha.  
By the time she looked back at him, his third 'sit' had worn off and he was back on his feet. ( She had removed the scroll causing the jizo statue to vanish on his second sit.) She braced herself for the insults that she knew were coming and simultaneously began to rack her brain for some to holler back in return. She had just come up with some really good ones when she noticed Inuyasha was just staring at her, smirking. She looked down and all around herself, but she couldn't find anything wrong. Finally out of pure exasperation she turned back to face him, crossing her arms.  
  
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Inuyasha smirked at her as he watched her try to think of some good insults to hurl at him. 'She looks so cute when she's mad,' he thought as he watched her nose wrinkle in concentration. 'WAIT! Backtrack there. CUTE! How the in the seven hells did these words get into his vocabulary?!? It must be that wench.' He thought. 'She's a bad influence on me!' Suddenly his thoughts were interupted as he heard her shout, "What?!" His ears flinched at the loud noise, why did she always have to yell? It was then that he realized he was still smirking at her.  
Quickly changing his features into those of disgust and a scowl he ignored her demand and instead made one of his own. "Well are you going to stand there thinking of insults all day and pouting? Or are you actually going to go home?" He yelled at her. Kagome felt a faint blush creep across her cheeks at the fact that he knew what she had been thinking about. Then she just "Humph"d and grabbed her pack. Without another word she jumped on the hanyous back as they headed toward the well.  
Inuyasha took off as soon as he felt her weight settle onto him. He wasn't going to make her mad again today. Well, at least madder than she already was. Okay okay! He would try his hardest not to upset her but the damn woman...she always got angry at the littlest things. No matter what! In fact, you know what, he didn't care. He wasn't going to give a damn if she was mad at him. It was her own problem anyway. He ran for a few more yards. 'Okay maybe I'll make a little effort,' he silently relented.  
They were almost to the well when he felt Kagome shift her wait on his back. The feeling of her moving against his back brought back memories of the day before. 'Yeah that was a stupid idea.' he redeclared to himself as he reminisced on his attempt to get her to hold him closer. His thoughts turned to the God Tree and what she had said about ,"How she really felt about him," again. Trying to fight the urge to ask, he lost to his curiousity.  
"Hey Kagome?" he asked. He felt her stiffen. 'No I won't answer him. I won't even say one word. I'm not talking to him, I'm angry with him.' Kagome began to chant in her head as she heard his voice. When she didn't answer Inuyasha was a little startled. Then he remembered,'Oh yeah, She's mad at me...AGAIN.' Softening his tone and making it a little more pleading he tried again. "Kagome?" He begged softly. 'No no no no no no! Well, maybe...NO! But it couldn't hurt..NO! But...NO! But...No..well, fine!' Kagome's mind silently waged a five second war before she finally answered him.  
"Yes Inuyasha?" she asked trying to keep her voice indifferent.  
He winced. Yep she was mad. 'But it was Shippo's fault!' his head screamed. Resisting the urge to yell something along those lines at her he kept his voice gentle. "Umm. Would you mind if I asked you a question? About yesterday?" He asked quietly.  
Kagome felt herself tense as she prepared for the question that she thougth was coming. "Ugh..Sure Inuyasha, why not?" she replied with a little uncertainty.  
Inuyasha felt his mind race through all the different ways to ask the question so that it seemed like he didn't really care. 'Dammit, I'm getting nervous!' he thought. If he was human he knew that his palms would be sweating. "Well...uhh...That is..I was wondering..."  
Kagome's brows furrowed in confusion as she tried to figure out what he was trying to ask. Clearly he was not going to demand to know why she hadn't trusted him enough to think that he was going to let her die.  
"Well...I..." he continued to stutter. 'This is ridiculous! Just get it out already!' he yelled at himself. "What did you mean when you said that you had to let me know how you really felt about me?!" He finally blurted out.  
Kagome gasped. That was not the question that she had been expecting from him. When she was silent for a second, Inuyasha took it that as a sign for the worst. She saw his ears droop in rejection and heard him mumble something along the lines of ,"Never mind..." She felt her heart jerk. Did he actually care for her. Was he feeling sad because she had hesitated? She felt her pulse begin to speed up and hope rose in her chest, along with fear. 'What if I'm misreading the signals?' She wondered nervously. 'What if he's upset about something else that I just happened to miss?' She took a breath and summed up her courage. 'He has a right to know!' she finally decided.  
Inuyasha had felt her pulse race and could smell, though barely, sadness followed by hope radiating off of her. Then the previous were replaced by fear. 'Fear of what?' he thought. 'Fear of me?'  
"Inuyasha..." she began slowly and hesitantly. "I want to tell you something. Before I do though...Promise me that you won't get angry with me. Please?" Inuyasha started at the desperate note in her voice. He could still smell her fear though. 'This is it,' he thought sadly. 'She's going to tell me that she hates me. And she's afraid that I'll kill her.' He felt his ears droop even more along with his heart but replied to her. "I promise," he said, hiding the pain in his voice at the thought of what she was about to say.  
"Inuyasha I..." she stopped for a moment unsure. Could she really do this? Strengthening her resolution she nodded her head firmly. She could and she would. It was now or never. "I care about you Inuyasha," she blurted out. "I care about you a lot. I fact I think I-"  
  
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Inuyasha had felt a lump form in his throat as she began and then trailed off. He couldn't stand this. They were almost to the well. He would just cut her off now and then he would say good-bye. Probably for good. After all if she hated him then it would only be cruel of him to force her to keep coming here. And he couldn't bear the thought of hurting her even if she didn't feel the same way about him. Suddenly he was aware that she was speaking again. "I care about you Inuyasha. I care about you a lot..." He felt himself freeze. Then his heart began to beat so hard that he thought it would explode. All his senses were drowned out as a feeling of elation came over him. She CARED! She cared about HIM! This was not what he had been expecting. He was aware that she was still speaking and tuned his senses into her. "...In fact I think I-"  
Inuyasha waited, suspense keeping him from noticing his surroundings. They were in the clearing before the well now but he made no move to let Kagome off of his back. He needed to know what she was going to say...  
Kagome didn't pick up where she had trailed off though. Instead her entire body tensed against his back and she shifted anxiously, a sign that she wanted to get down. Confused, but unable to question or argue, Inuyasha complied with her wishes, letting her slide gracefully to the ground.  
As soon as she was down he missed her warmth.  
Inuyasha turned to face her before she could make any move to go down the well. He had to know what she was going to say. What what wrong? Why had she stopped?  
As he turned though a faint blue shimmer caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Kagome's head was turned, staring in that same direction. A sense of dread filled Inuyasha's stomach as, almost as if he was moving in slow motion, he turned his head, already knowing what he would see.  
  
*************************************************  
Kikyo couldn't help the triumphant smirk that made its way onto her face as she watched her reincarnation's eyes fill with tears at the sight of her. She knew exactly why Kagome was about to cry too. Kikyo had heard the whole thing. There the girl was, about to tell Inuyasha that she loved him, unaware that he felt the same way, and then she, Kikyo, his dead love, had shown up.  
Kagome was still convinced that Inuyasha loved the deceased miko, and Kikyo couldn't have expected things to go any better. But then, something had happened that she had not anticipated. After letting her reincarnation of his back and turning to face her, Inuyasha had finally brought his eyes to meet the clay priestess'. His beautiful amber orbs were completely devoid of the guilt and pain that she was used to seeing in them. Instead, they were filled with anger and disgust. Kikyo involunatarily gasped and drew back a little under the intensity of his gaze.  
It was almost as if he knew why she was there.  
"Kikyo..." Inuyasha whispered, his voice was trembling with anger, but to Kagome it seemed like it was filled with longing and joy.  
Kikyo lifted her eyes to meet the hanyou's in a defiant gesture. He was hers! No feeble reincarnation was going to take him away from her! Inuyasha's life was hers! He would go to hell with her no matter what. He had promised.  
"Inuyasha. I have been searching for you." The dead miko called out to him, her voice cold and harsh, "Come with me. It is time."  
Inuyasha's eyes narrowed in rage. He knew what Kikyo was doing. He knew that the resurrected woman despised Kagome and wanted her dead. Though Kagome had never brought herself to tell him of all the times that the older woman had tried to kill her, he knew. Each time he had tried to hope that it wasn't true. He felt obligated to protect Kikyo.  
But now the wench was going to far. Now she was trying to take away the only happiness in his life, and then take his life. Now she was deliberately trying to hurt Kagome, and right in front of him as well.  
Before he could tell Kikyo that he would never go with her. Before he could tell her that he loved Kagome, not her. He felt frail fingers opening the fist that was tightly clenched at his side. Bewildered Inuyasha jerked his head around to see Kagome placing something in his forcefully opened palm. Her head was lowered to shield her eyes, but it was of no use.  
He could smell her tears.  
Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, to say anything at all to her, but before any sounds could leave him, he was silenced by a delicate finger at his lips.  
Kagome slowly raised her sapphire orbs to meet his golden ones. Her eyes seemed to shine with unnatural light as the sun reflected of the moisture within them. She forced a small smile upon her lips.  
"Inuyasha...I know that you love Kikyo." The hanyou opened his mouth in another futile attempt to speak but Kagome silenced him again, this time with her lips upon his own in a soul searing kiss. She poured all of her love, her sadness, and her hope into the kiss. Vaguely Inuyasha was aware of her hands pulling at something around his neck, but before he could register what she was doing, all his attention was drawn back to the kiss.  
Just as the shock was wearing off, and Inuyasha was about to respond, Kagome's lips left his. With one final tug the rosary came off of his neck. Caught off guard all Inuyasha could do was stare as Kagome met his eyes one more time, her tears finally spilling forth.  
"I love Inuyasha. And I want you to be happy."  
Without another word, and before he could react, the girl fled and leapt over the side of the well, his hated rosary in her hand.  
With a flash of blue maic she was gone from him.  
Inuyasha stared dumbly down at his fisted hand, still not understanding the extent of what had happened. Slowly he opened it and looked upon its contents. Quickly he clenched his eyes shut and immediately closed his fist again. He could feel the first sign of tears begin to well up behind his lids and a knot formed in his throat.  
In his palm rested the fused shards of the Shikon no Tama.  
Kikyo's heartless laughter filled the air as one lone tear trickled down his cheek.  
*************************************  
  
And tah dah! Here is the new chapter four. The ending is completely different, the beginning exactly the same. Next chapter will be the first completely original one since I reposted the story. Again. If anyone would like to read the story in its original form, just email me and I will gladly send it to you. It wasn't completed and I have no intention of finishing it at the moment, but at least the last chapter isn't a cliff hanger! REMEMBER TO REVIEW! 


	6. Chapter Five

Before I die  
  
By Goijh  
  
Author's note: Here it is! The first all original, all new chapter! YAY! *imaginary fans cheer in background. Hired school band launches into annoying happy music.* I know that this chapter is a little short, but that's okay! Because....Well that would spoil the chapter if I told you so you'll just have to wait until the end of the chapter! This chapter in my personal opinion...is sad. Sad as in sucks. One of my friends (actually my brother [who is one mof my friends I am proud to say]) told me that it's sad as in *tears* and depressing.  
  
Goijh: I happen to think that it is awful enough to bring you to tears and I find that very depressing.  
  
Bmrh: You know that's not what I mean. *Gives a stern stare like the ones that your parents gave you when you were little and you did something wrong.*  
  
Goijh: *gulp* Sorry...?  
  
Bmrh: Hey look! I'm in the author's note!  
  
Goijh: *sweatdrop* Uh..yeah! O_o  
  
(If no one noticed, Goijh is my initials...Bmrh is my brother's initials. Hee hee. I have 5 names! It makes me feel special!)  
  
Anyways on with the chapter!  
  
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Chapter Five  
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Kikyo watched with sadistic glee Kagome began to cry. She knew then and there what was going to happen- Kagome was going to leave and Inuyasha would be HERS. But what Kagome did before she left filled Kikyou with bitter rage. That weak reincarnation dared to kiss Inuyasha!  
Unfortunately, before the enraged corpse could do anything about it, Kagome had ended the kiss and leapt through the well, leaving the Shikon shards and the hanyou behind.  
Kikyo couldn't help the triumphant laughter that welled up in her. It demanded to be let loose and all she could do was comply. Her eyes closed and all she could hear was the sound of her own cold voice, echoing throughout the air. Still laughing, though not quite as loudly, the witch finally opened her eyes to look upon her prize.  
Inuyasha...  
Kikyo's demented mirth ended as soon as it had begun when she saw him. A lone bead of moisture running down his cheek. The sun caught it perfectly and it seemed almost as if it were a beautiful silver jewel. 'Is that a tear?' Kikyo's mind almost screamed in jealousy and confusion. 'Inuyasha never cried for me! Why is he crying?! Is it over that worthless girl? Could he really care more for her than for me?'  
The thoughts were quickly dismissed from her mind. None of the mattered. Inuyasha was hers now.  
Only hers.  
"Inuyasha." Kikyo called out, forcing what she thought to be an inviting smile upon her face. In reality it looked malicious and cruel. "Come with me Inuyasha. We can be together now."  
Inuyasha didn't even bother to wipe his eyes as he turned his head towards her. Kikyo had never before seen anyone, youkai or ningen, look so sad.  
So alone.  
So lost.  
Instead of feeling sympathy or pity though her heart of ice could only feel hatred and anger. Her reincarnation was only a copy of herself. She was in no way better than Kikyo. Inuyasha was wasting his tears on that filthy girl.  
"Inuyasha." Kikyou called out again, hoping that this time he would would respond to her plea. "Come with me Inuyasha. Come with me like you promised."  
Inuyasha finally wiped his face, flinging the offending tears to the ground where they splashed quietly and were forgotten. A snarl covered his face as he glared at Kikyo, channeling as much of his despair and anger into that glare as he possibly could. Kikyo shivered unwillingly beneath his heated stare and tried to look away, but his intense eyes captivated her and she was unable to move.  
Moments passed and neither made a move nor said a word.  
Finally Inuyasha opened his mouth, but the words to come from it were not those of promise and devotion that the dead miko was accustomed too.  
"Go to hell by yourself Kikyo."  
Kikyo recoiled as if struck by a poisonous snake. She couldn't believe that Inuyasha would say something so harsh to her. Was she not his first love? Did he not still love her?  
"Inuyasha! How can you speak to me so? Do you mean to betray me once again?"  
Inuyasha seethed with rage. Kikyo knew now that it had been Naraku whom had betrayed her over 50 years ago. Yet she still dared to blame it on him?! He knew that the Kikyo that now walked the earth was not the woman that he had once loved. She was merely an empty shell of the original preistess. A walking zombie that fed on souls and hate.  
Because of her, Kagome didn't know that he loved her too.  
Because of her, Kagome was gone.  
"Kikyo, you do not deserve to live! The only reason that you walk now is because you have a stolen piece of Kagome's soul! I should have killed you the day that Urusae resurrected you. But I was too weak too. I didn't want to see that you weren't the Kikyo that I had loved. I didn't want to see you for the monster that you are now!"  
Kikyo shrieked in horror that Inuyasha should speak to her so. "You mean to kill me?! You heartless beast! Inuyasha, you promised that you would go to hell with me! It is your fault that I am dead and your obligation to repay me!"  
Inuyasha hung his head so that his bangs covered his eyes. His ears flattened against his head and his body trembled in suppressed anger.  
"Kikyo," His voice was barely above a whisper but the deceased miko could hear him as if he were right next to her, "I am not the one that killed you. Naraku decieved us both. It is for you that I shall kill him. To avenge your soul and allow you to rest in peace. But you will no longer walk this earth after this day."  
Inuyasha raised his head and amber orbs to reveal fresh tears gathering in his eyes. A look of pain was plainly visible across his features. Kikyo knew what he was about to do even before he cracked his knuckles as he unsheathed his deadly claws.  
"I'm sorry Kikyo. But I know that you and I both know its better this way."  
Panic surged in the priestesses body. It wasn't supposed to be this way! Inuyasha was supposed to come back to her! He was supposed to love her and forget about Kagome now that she had fled from him.  
That stupid reincarnation was not supposed to have kissed him. She wasn't supposed to have had the chance to tell Inuyasha that she loved him! Everything was going wrong.  
Almost as if the world were in slow motion, Kikyo saw Inuyasha bending his knees as he prepared to rush forward. Kikyo could feel her body turning, her legs moving as she began to run. She was faintly aware of a blood curdling scream filling the air.  
Was that her own voice?  
She began to run, her head still looking over her shoulder as she saw Inuyasha leap from the ground and towards her in one powerful movement. She saw the sun glint off of his claws as he drew nearer and nearer. She knew that all her horror and fear was plainly visible on her face. She didn't care.  
She knew that this was it.  
She saw more than felt Inuyasha's claws sinking into her clay body. An arm fell loose from her shoulder and shattered like pottery upon the hard ground. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the hanyous shadow in front of her, his arm drawing back as it prepared to plunge through her chest. Another scream filled the air as she saw the shadow move, and when she looked down, a clawed hand emerged from her chest, where her heart would have been had she had one.  
She could feel her stolen portion of soul fleeing her body as she slowly returned to clay.  
She felt arms wrap around her and pull her close as she was gently lowered to the ground. Lips against hers. Words being whispered.  
"I'm sorry Kikyo."  
She opened her eyes one last time and looked up into Inuyasha's fallen face. He wept freely now, the beads of water mixing with the dirt and clay of her cheek as her body continued to return to that which it had been made from. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth to speak her last words.  
As her stolen soul finished leaving her crumbling body, she felt a serene veil of comfort cover her. She was finally going to be at peace.  
"Thank you....Inu..ya...sha..."  
Inuyasha sobbed aloud as he felt Kikyo's clay body dry and crumble into dust and ashes in his arms. Desperately he tried to cling to the small particles, his heart being torn apart inside of him. He had tried to tell himself that she was not Kikyo. That she was a monster and he no longer cared for her.  
It had helped him to plunge his claws through her empty chest.  
But when he had held her in his arms, when he had heard her last words, he knew then and there that he would always love Kikyo. She was his first love and he would never forget her.  
But now he had moved on.  
He loved Kagome more than he loved his life, more than he had ever loved the priestess Kikyo. And best of all she loved him too.  
If only he could have told her before she left.  
Inuyasha fell to the ground and laid in the ashes of his former love. Tears continue to roll down his face as he choked back sobs. He needed to go to Kagome. He needed to tell her he loved her too.  
But would the well let him through?  
A gentle breeze slowly began to carry Kikyo's ashes away. Inuyasha laid on the ground, watching as they were carried farther and farther away from him, until they were all gone. Slowly he sat up and dared to look over at the well.  
Never before had it looked so daunting.  
So forbidding.  
It seemed to call out to him, daring him to try to leap inside so that it could crush his heart and hopes when he landed upon the hard dirt bottom of the feudal era. Inuyasha had never been so unsure of anything in his life. He had always been able to travel through the well. He was the only one who could pass.  
But he had always worn the wooden beaded rosary the tied him to Kagome.  
Would the magic of the well allow him to see her again.  
Never had Inuyasha cried so much as he had this day. Never had he felt such pain since his mother was murdered before him. He had sworn then that he would never be so weak, he would never cry again. Yet here he was, tears once again threatening to spill from his still wet eyes as he thought of what would happen should the well not let him through.  
Would he ever see Kagome again.  
Inuyasha shakily stood to his feet, his fingers brushing over his lips as he remembered the kiss that Kagome had given him before she ran. She loved him. She had told him that she loved him!  
Newfound strength surged through his limbs as he walked over to the well.  
Kagome loved him and he loved her. Things couldn't end this way. If this was the way that things were meant to be then why had she ever been able to revive him from his death on the Goshinboku tree?  
They were meant to be together. Even through time itself they were meant to be together.  
And he had to tell her.  
With a picture of Kagome's smiling face in his head, Inuyasha closed his eyes...  
...and jumped into the well.  
  
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Another Author's note: OKAY! There you go people! Kikyo, the stalker, is DEAD! I will have to refrain from cheering with the rest of you though because I, being the evil and strange person I am, happen to like Kikyo. The living one though, not the zombie soul stealer. REMEMBER TO REVIEW!  
  
~Goijh 


	7. Chapter Six

Before I die  
  
By: Goijh  
  
Author's note: I apologize before hand. This chapter is short. I know. This chapter's a cliff hanger. I know. This chapter is the second all new, all original chapter of the revised version of Before I die. "..." Oh yeah.  
  
This story is not doing nearly as well this time around as it was last time. I'm not really sure about the reason for that, because personally I think that I like it better this time. But maybe it's just because of the title being the same. For that reason I am going to ask all reviewers for suggestions for a new title name.  
  
Please let me know what you think. REVIEW!  
  
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Chapter Six ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kagome felt the familiar tingle of the well's magic as she jumped through. A few tears flew through the air, destined to remain in the Sengoku Jidai, as the miko fell through the very layers of time itself. Blue light surrounded her, and for a moment it made her feel warm and safe.  
But the moment was up as she landed on her knees in the dirt at the bottom of the well located just out of the Higurashi Shrine. For a moment she just stayed there, kneeling in the soil, clutching the wooden beads that had once subdued Inuyasha to her chest.  
She was home now.  
Without the Shikon shards.  
500 years away from Inuyasha.  
Kagome sunk to the ground, curled up into a ball, and cried. Her sobs racked her shoulders almost painfully, as in a fetal posistion, she allowed her tears to water the dry, parched earth of the well house.  
'At least Inuyasha will be happy...'  
  
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With a picture of Kagome's smiling face in his head, and the Shikon clutched firmly in his hand, Inuyasha closed his eyes...  
...and jumped into the well.  
Inuyasha felt himself falling, but something was missing. That sensation he always felt when the magic of the well was working. It wasn't there. Did that mean that he wasn't going to be allowed to pass? Unconsciously his grip on the Shikon shard tightened as he continued to fall.  
The shards had always let Kagome pass, but he had never used them. He had always had his rosary, his closest connection to Kagome. But now, he had the shards, and Kagome had the necklace. Inuyasha's eyes were growing moist again.  
'Where is the magic?' ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After about a half hour of sobbing nonstop, Kagome ran out of tears. She wiped her face in something akin to disbelief, her dirty hands leaving smudges of mud in their wake. Was her love for Inuyasha really only worth half an hour of crying. Somewhere inside Kagome felt a barely present twinge of disappointment.  
Somehow she had always thought that she would weep for days on end, sinking into an unconsolable depression. It would be like in those sappy love stories that she saw on TV. Except in those the man always realized what he had lost and came running back to the woman he loved him more than life itself, miraculously reviving her while she was on her death bed with the power of his love.  
Then they would live happily ever after.  
Kagome felt more tears coming as her throat knotted. She forced a bitter smile. So there were more tears.  
Before she started sobbing again, the young girl picked herself off of the floor and tried to brush herself off as well as she could. She was about to climb out of the well and flee to the sanctuary of her room, to spend the rest of her mourning in a nice clean bed, when she felt something.  
'What the...?'  
The miko was halfway spun around, trying to see what was causing the feeling, when something landed on her, knocking her to the wellhouse floor once again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Inuyasha's feet touched the bottom of the well, the cool dirt tickling his toes.  
'No...'  
He couldn't open his eyes. He knew what he would see.  
The magic had never come.  
Inuyasha's knees gave out from underneath him, and he fell to the ground. Overwhelming depression beginning to seep through his denial. He would not open his eyes. If he opened his eyes and would only prove what deep inside he already knew.  
He didn't want to prove it.  
The magic had never come.  
Inuyasha opened his eyes.  
Above him it was the same blue sky that was there when he closed his eyes. The same vines were still growing up the side of the well.  
Kagome was still gone.  
He was in Sengoku Jidai.  
The anger that he was so accustomed too began to boil his blood. His despair was momentarily forgotten as he began to vent it the best way that he knew how.  
Inuyasha's fist flew at the wall, denting it despite the miles of earth that lay on the other side. He jumped to his feet as another and yet another fist hit that wall of the well.  
The well that wouldn't let him pass.  
The well that kept him from Kagome.  
His anger was quickly running low, his strength sapping from him as he slowly began to accept the truth. He was in Sengoku Jidai. Kagome was 500 years into the future. The well would not let him pass.  
Kagome was gone.  
Inuyasha sunk to the bottom of the well, barely supporting himself on his hands and knees as he began to silently cry.  
Two tears fell to the soil.  
In the future, Kagome's tears fell as well.  
"Kagome..."Inuyasha whispered, "I love you Kagome...Please..."  
Inuyasha was so lost in his sadness that he failed to notice the sensation of the well's magic that he had, only a moment ago, craved to feel more than anything.  
He clenched his eyes shut as two more tears fell.  
"Please...come back to me."  
The blue lights of time itself engulfed the hanyou, and suddenly he was falling. Falling through time and space.  
Falling to Kagome.  
  
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That's it! Review NOW! ... Please? 


	8. Chapter Seven

Before I Die  
  
By: Goijh  
  
Author's note: At some points in this chapter, Inuyasha may be a little out of character. I'm just toying with something here and his OOCness is needed to accomplish a couple things. I don't think that it's too bad though because its just some moments like he has in the series. Well, its a much longer moment-but it goes back to the same thing! *sweatdrops* Y'know what? Forget listening to me (If anyone ever does in the first place!). Just ignore my babbling right now and read the chapter.  
  
REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chapter Seven ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kagome felt her head hit the cold floor of the well as she fell backwards. The tingle of the well's magic began to slowly recede as she tried to sit up, rubbing the back of her skull in an attempt to alleviate the throbbing pain that was developing.  
But she couldn't move.  
She was pinned to the ground by someone's heavier body.  
A silken tress of hair fell across her cheek and she could feel hoarse breath on her cheek.  
Tentatively the young miko opened her eyes, not willing to believe it was true until she saw him for herself.  
Inuyasha's golden eyes almost glowed in the dim light of the shed. The had an abmormal glisten to them as if...as if he had been crying. His silver hair was cascading over his shoulders, falling onto Kaogme's frailer body like a blanket as he stared back into her eyes with an expression akin to astonishment and unsupressed happiness.  
"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered in a weak gasp. When he had landed on her the air had been knocked out of her lungs.  
The sound of her voice seemed to snap Inuyasha back to earth as suddenly he seemed to notice that he was crushing on her. A faint blush stained his cheek as he scurried off of her and backed a little away, hastily wiping his face with his sleeve in the hope that Kagome would not notice the faint traces of fresh tears on his cheeks.  
Slowly, Kagome managed to prop herself up onto her elbows. Her breath was beginning to return to her now and her head was clearing. Inuyasha was crouched less than a foot away from her, anxiously staring at her.  
Both were thinking the same thing: 'Is this real?'  
Kagome was the first to break the silence as she stood shakily to her feet. Inuyasha's eyes raised with her movements, and he quickly jumped up to steady her when she looked like she might fall. For another moment they just stared at each other, neither really believing that the other was there.  
Inuyasha brought his hand up to Kagome's dirt smugded face and using the pad of his thumb, wiped away one remaining tear from her cheek. His eyes softened as his thumb continued to caress her cheek.  
"Inuyasha...? But why?" Kagome managed to blurt out. Both winced visibly at the unexpected volume of her voice, but Inuyasha didn't answer her. Instead he did something that completely took the young woman by surprise.  
Inuyasha pulled Kagome into him in a fierce embrace, holding her as if he would never let go. Nuzzling his face into her hair, he breathed in deeply, trying to memorize the scent that was only Kagome.  
Kagome, tense at first from shock, slowly began to relax, reveling in the hanyou's warmth. Timidly she snaked her own arms out from underneath Inuyasha's and snuck them around his back, returning the hug. She laid her head against his chest, content to savor the moment and just listen to the beating of his heart.  
They stood there, just clinging to each other, neither saying a word that they might risk spoiling the moment. Finally, Inuyasha stepped back a little, just enough to look her in the eyes. His arms continued to hold on to her firmly though, so that she could not escape.  
Hesitantly Kagome raised her eyes to meet the hanyou's, afraid of what he might say. Would he tell her that he had followed her through the well only to say good-bye? That he was leaving with Kikyo? Or worse, that he had chosen Kikyo over her? Kagome's smaller body began to tremble in anticipation of the words to come.  
Inuyasha just gazed into her eyes for a moment longer, loving how they so easily betrayed what she felt. Despairing over why they so suddenly looked worried and scared.  
Not wanting to see the fear on her face any more, afraid that it was directed at him, Inuyasha pulled Kagome close to him once more. With one hand he brushed her raven locks away from her face and ear. Leaning slightly, he posistioned his mouth a little above the crook in her neck, as if was about to tell her some great secret.  
Kagome froze. She knew that she could never break free from his hold and escape, but part of her desperately did not want to hear whatever Inuyasha was about to tell her. Another part of her however, the part that always clung to any small hope, was scared to move. Afraid of missing the words that would come from his mouth in the hope that they would be the ones she longed to hear.  
Kagome threw herself into Inuyasha's chest once more. She buried her face into his haori, shutting her eyes tightly, and clenching portions of his shirt with her small hands.  
"Kagome..." Inuyasha whispered. The tone he used sent chills down her spine."Promise me that you'll never leave me again."  
The miko's entire body froze at his words. But that didn't stop Inuyasha from continuing.  
"Promise me Kagome. Tell me that you'll never leave me like that again." His breath caressed her neck and earlobe. The sensations were delicious. But still Kagome could not move, not even to nod her head. She was like a deer in the headlights. Though why she was still afraid she had no idea.  
"Please Kagome." Inuyasha begged, his voice taking on a desperate tone that she had never heard from him before. "I don't know what I'd do without you."  
Those words gave Kagome whatever it was that she needed to respond. Letting go of the fisted material in her hands, the miko threw her arms around Inuyasha's neck and squeezed. Had Inuyasha been anyone else he would have gagged out that she was suffocating him, but pride is something that will always be in your way no matter what the occasion. No hanyou could ever be choked by a mere ningen.  
He did however bring one hand around to hers, loosening her grip a little.  
"I promise Inuyasha." Kagome's voice, muffled by his haori came to his demon ears. Inuyasha's heart skipped a beat and a slow smile that the young woman could not see spread across his face.  
'She promised.'  
Unknowingly Inuyasha had held his breath, afraid that although Kagome had told him that she loved him, Kikyo had ruined any chance that he had ever had with the girl from the future that he truly loved more than life itself. But he wouldn't tell her that yet.  
He wanted to start over, and prove to her without words that he really did care for her.  
That way, once the words were said, there would be no doubts.  
The scent of salt and water reached his sensitive nose. Alarmed Inuyasha pulled Kagome away from him so that he could see her face. Tears were pouring freely down her cheeks, making the dirt smudges already on them look even worse.  
"Why are you crying?" Inuyasha all but shouted, suddenly feeling guilty and uncomfortable. He didn't want to make her cry. Was it his fault? Something he did? Struck with that unexplainable urge to comfort her whenever she was upset, Inuyasha started to rub her arms in what he hoped was a comforting manner.  
"It's okay Kagome. Don't cry."  
Suddenly Kagome began to laugh a little, though it was unrecognizable at first because of the crying. Alarm increasing, the hanyou looked down at her, confused and upset.  
"It's okay Inuyasha." She hiccupped. "I'm crying because I'm happy."  
Inuyasha just looked more confused.  
Blushing a little, Kagome averted her eyes, letting them rest on anything except for Inuyasha. "I was afraid that I would never see you again." She explained.  
Inuyasha felt masculine pride swell up in him at those words, but as was his nature, he wasn't going to admit it.  
"Feh, as if wench. What were you thinking?" He asked as he leaned forward to tap on her head as if checking to make sure it wasn't hollow. "We still have shards to collect."  
For a moment that dangerous fire flashed in Kagome's eyes. Inuyasha thought for sure that he was going to be sat. Flinching as he awaited the words, he was pleasantly surprised when instead Kagome broke out into a smile.  
"That's right dog-boy. But I'm not going back right now. I have some things to do at home first."  
As their normal composures quickly fell back upon them Inuyasha began to growl at her words. Opening his mouth to let out what Kagome knew could only be curses likely to make a sailor blush, the miko stopped him before it could begin.  
Inuyasha almost choked back on his words when suddenly Kaogme's finger was pressed against his lips. "No language like that while we're here." She admonished with laughter dancing in her eyes. "If you want to talk like that you can go back to Feudal Era. However if you'd like to stay here with me for a while, then you'd better behave Inuyasha."  
The hanyou's eyes widened a little in surprise. Was she actually inviting him to stay in her time. Though he would never say it out loud, he thought that her era was fascinating. But the only chances he ever had to see it were when he came to drag her back to the warring states era. She had never actually invited him before.  
Nodding quietly to show that he understood, Inuyasha kept his mouth shut as Kagome moved her finger away. Sending him one of those smiles that could make him melt or do anything that she asked him, Kagome moved out of the way so that he could climb out of the well.  
Inuyasha's eyes dropped inconspicuously to Kagome's short skirt, then moved to the ladder. 'Hmmm...' A wicked smirk pulled at the corners of his lips.  
"Lead the way." He said as he crossed his arms waiting. Kagome's face flushed as she stuttered, looking for the right words.  
"Inuyasha! I'm wearing a skirt."  
Inuyasha was almost tempted to say, "I know." But decided that it would be more amusing to watch her try to explain it to him. On the other hand, it appeared pretty obvious that Kagome had forgotten that she had taken off the rosary. Inuyasha himself had, until he noticed it was wrapped around his wrist now, though when he had done that he couldn't recall.  
"So?" He asked, settling on playing dumb.  
Kagome blushed several shades of red as she groped for the words to tell Inuyasha without embarressing herself. "SO I can't go first because then you'd be able to see up my skirt!" She finally managed, her face reddening even more than either of them thought was possible.  
Again, Inuyasha toyed with the idea of saying, "So?" once more. But Kagome's face was so red that he was sure it would explode if he didn't take pity on her. And that would not be good.  
"Feh." Was all he said. With one step Inuyasha closed the distance between them. Grabbing Kagome he flung her onto his back and leapt out of the well. Without saying a word, he tightened his grip on the back of her legs, and sped off to her house.  
  
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REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!  
  
(please?) 


	9. New Author's notebrief explanation ch7

THIS IS ONLY AN AUTHOR'S NOTE! (SORRY!) BUT ITS AN EXPLANATION ABOUT SOMETHING THAT SOME PEOPLE MAY BE CURIOUS ABOUT!  
  
Sorry people. I haven't exactly updated. *Bows in apology* I just edited something in this chapter. There was one sentence that was contradicting something and I needed to fix it. (I didn't notice it until I was trying to remember what I had done with the Shikon shards and the rosary.) To fill in some things for later chapters (In case I decide to use these details) The shikon shard is at the moments still with Inuyasha. He most likely tucked it into a fold in his haori for the moment because it is unlikely that he is still holding onto it. The rosary was dropped onto the bottom of the well by Kagome when she felt someone coming through. She's forgotten that its there and for the moment thinks that it is still on Inuyasha. None of this is really important. A friend was just reading this and she noticed that the shards had just kind of disappeared and that Inuyasha was holding the rosary at the end of the chapter seven instead of Kagome. Its fixed now!  
  
So uh....yeah. Pointless author's note right? GOMEN!  
  
~Goijh  
  



	10. Chapter Eight

____________________________________________________________________________ _ ===================================================================== Chapter Eight ____________________________________________________________________________ _=====================================================================  
  
Inuyasha jumped up into tree outside of Kagome's room with ease, landing gracefully on a thick branch close to her window. Stealthily he slipped inside, landing on the carpet without a sound. Kagome's arms still clung to his back, the shock of his unexpected piggy back wearing off as he gently slid her off of his back.  
Inuyasha turned around to face her. Her cheeks were still flushed with ebbing anger from the arguement about the ladder and her chest was rising heavily as she caught her breath. Her eyes darted up to meet his and narrowed menacingly when she saw the amusement dancing his amber orbs.  
"Jerk." She muttered pushing past him and walking to her door.  
Inuyasha mentally let out a sigh of relief. They were acting like nothing had happened.  
Like Kikyo had never shown up.  
Like Kagome had never removed the rosary or tried to run away from him.  
Like their tender moment at the bottom of the well had never happened.  
Like he had never been scared and hurt, thinking that he would never see her again.  
Like Kagome had never told him that she loved him...  
He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved.  
"Uh..Inuyasha?"  
The hanyou almost jumped in surprise as Kagome's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Whirling around, he turned to face her. Kagome was just standing in front of the door, one hand on her hip, her right foot tapping on the ground impatiently. Her eyebrows were raised as if to say, "Well?"  
Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk. He could almost hear Kagome's heart speed up as one of his fangs protruded dangerously from the corner of his mouth. The smirk grew.  
"Well?" She demanded, her tone not betraying the weakness in her legs as she gestured pointlessly with her hands. The smirk on Inuyasha's face was not his normally smug one. It was dark and dangerous. Her eyes widened a little as the smirk grew bigger once again.  
He looked REALLY sexy!  
A blush made itslef known on Kagome's face. Turning quickly she began to walk out of the door before Inuyasha could see it.  
"It's almost lunch time already Inuyasha!" She called over her shoulder as she hurried away. "I'm going down to the kitchen to see if anyone's home and to start some ramen."  
The words had no sooner reached his ears before Inuyasha was treading on Kagome's heels, his mouth already watering in anticipation as visions of ramen noodles danced in his head ("...as visions of sugarplums danced in their heads..." - Night before Christmas! ^_^;).  
Kagome's mother was at work. Her brother was at school.  
Her grandfather...was sitting at the kitchen table creating demon wards.  
'Great...' Kagome though wryly as she glanced anxiously over her shoulder at Inuyasha. Having his dog like senses, the inu had already known that the old man was home. He shuddered inwardly. Only ramen and Kagome could get him anywhere near the old man. Though the wards didn't really work, they stung a little when they made contact with his skin.  
'Kinda like an annoying little pest.' Inuyasha thought as he and Kagome entered the room. The old man's head immediately shot up and his eyes locked with the demon's. A shrill shriek of something relating to, "Demon! Be gone from here!" caused the hanyou to wince in pain as bits of paper with haphazard spells on them were flung at him.  
'An annoying little pest the needs to be SWATTED!' Inuyasha's mind screamed as he glared at Kagome's grandfather, ripping the offending wards off of almost every part of his body.  
Luckily for the old man he was Kagome's grandfather. If he wasn't...  
Inuyasha's claws flexed suggestively by his sides.  
The thought of what he would do was almost TOO tempting.  
"Jichan! Stop it!" Kagome cried as she frantically tore anything that looked like it could be thrown or related to demon exorcism away from the frail elderly figure. Her grandfather didn't heed her words though as he continued to fling more and more at Inuyasha from Kami knows where.  
It looked like it was snowing in the Higurashi kitchen.  
Finally the miko succeeded in relieving Jiichan of anything that could prove harmful to any living thing, evil or not. The old fart looked like he was going to cry. A child deprived of his favorite play things.  
Inuyasha couldn't resist the opportunity.  
"Hey old man!" He taunted, waving a few wards like they were toilet paper. "Didn't you figure it out by now that these can't hurt me?"  
The grandfather looked crestfallen.  
For a moment anyways, until his senile mind came up with an excuse and his jaw hit the floor.  
"You're an evil apparition! That's it! I should've known!" He yelled excitedly, pointing a finger quite rudely at the bewildered hanyou. "These wards, passed down through many generations, of course would have no affect on you! You need an entirely different ofuda to subdue an apparition!"  
With those words of revelation, Jichan fled the kitchen faster than possible for a man half his age, in search of new 'toys'.  
Inuyasha's left eye twitched.  
The slamming of a distant door was heard as Kagome's grandfather left the house, most likely running to the shrine itself to gather the supplies needed to exorcise the evil apparition in his kitchen.  
Kagome's sapphire eyes looked up at Inuyasha. Apology was swimming everywhere in their depths, almost managing to completely shield the also visible amusement from the hanyou as he returned her gaze. Almost.  
Inuyasha plopped himself down on the floor in front of the low table. Crossing his arms so that his hands were hidden in his the sleeves of his haori, he turned his head away so that he would not have to see the miko's mirth at his expense.  
"Feh!"  
Kagome laughed but refrained from saying anything as she gathered everything that she would need to make the instant noodles. Setting the water on the stove to boil she peeked at Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye.  
He was still sitting there, making a point of the fact that he did not appreciate her lack of sympathy after he was brutally attacked by jichan by refusing to look at her. Kagome knew that he wasn't really angry though, his posture was too relaxed. Sighng internally she turned to dump the noodles into the bubbling water before shifting so that her back leaned against the counter and she could study Inuyasha completely. She didn't have to worry about him catching her at the moment because she knew his pride wouldn't allow him to look at her until she had offered at materialistic sign of repentence.  
In other words he was going to be upset until she feed him ramen.  
A slow smile found its way to Kagome's face.  
Her eyes roved over him, greedily taking in his boyish features and muscular, lean body hidden under the bulks of his hakama and haori. His silver hair splayed carelessy across his back and Kagome had the urge to run her fingers through it, to test whether or not it was really as soft as it looked.  
Her gentle smile faded into a perplexed frown as he thoughts continued.  
Before she had leapt into the well she had finally managed, in a moment of desperation and as a way a farewell, to confess to the hanyou exactly how she felt about him. As of yet though, he had said nothing about it. Kagome was unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Had he even heard her?  
Kagome's eyes became unfocused as she lost herself in her thoughts. The scent of her sadness premeated the air but she failed to notice as Inuyasha turned his inquisitive golden gaze to her. The miko's blind stare remained on Inuyasha.  
She was almost positive that he had in fact heard her. After all, he had come through the well after her right? But how had he managed to do that? And what about Kikyo? He loved her didn't he? But then Inuyasha had followed her through the well. He had held her close to him and asked her...No. Made her promise, not to leave him.  
Did that mean he loved her too?  
A pleasant scent drifted to her nose, startling Kagome from her reverie. The frown turned into a bit of an 'o' as Kagome realized the smell was the finished ramen. Her eyes focused to find Inuyasha's own amber orbs watching her curiously. A fierce blush lit up her cheeks when she realized that she had been staring at him for almost 10 minutes.  
Whirling so that he would not see the interesting shades of red that he face was inventing, Kagome turned off the burner and began to strain the noodles. As she kept her back carefully turned to Inuyasha, she didn't see the relief spread over his face when the scent of her depression was replaced with her signature cheerfullness. She didn't even get to see the glazed look come into his eyes when he saw the ramen noodles sliding from the pot into a bowl as she got his serving ready.  
Kagome brought the food over to the table, cleverly positioning the pot of remaining noodles closer to Inuyasha then to herself so the he would be able to reach it more easily and the risk of him making a mess was reduced. The ate their lunch in silence, neither paying much attention to the other: Inuyasha absorbed in his noodles, and Kagome contemplating what disease her grandfather had made this time and how she would survive the humiliation of it was something as gross as last time.  
Inuyasha happily slurped down ramen until suddenly - All the noodles were gone! His eyes widened in shock before narrowing suspiciously as they scanned the room for whomever had stolen his precious pasta. He sniffed the air. There was no one in there except for him and Kagome. Fortunately the grandfather had not returned and his scent was no where on the shrine grounds anymore.  
Nope it was just him and Kagome.  
Wait!  
The suspicious eyes fell on the girl across the table from him who was currently rising to put her dishes in the sink. Had she eaten all of his ramen?  
Though the thought was entertaining for a moment, and Inuyasha desperately wished it was true, he was forced to accept the fact that Kagome was not guilty. She couldn't eat that fast even in her wildest dreams. Inuyasha's face fell.  
The nummy ramen had just...disappeared.  
He patted his full stomach and a smile covered his face.  
It had disappeared into his tummy!  
  
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*Goijh bows in apology repeatedly* Gomen. gomen. I know that the above is VERY out of character for Inuyasha...(Or is it?)...But I'm home from school today and very bored so I just had to add that! Gomen!  
  
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Kagome returned to the table to relieve Inuyasha of his spotless dishes as well, plopping them unceremoniously into the sink before turning to face him.  
"Well. I'm going to go into my room and study for my tests..."She began a little uncertainly. "I don't really know what you can do. If you want I can put on a movie or something for you." She offered with a smile.  
Inuyasha's pulse leapt a little knowing that the smile was directed solely at him. In an uncharacteristic manner, he remained quiet and just shook his head.  
Kagome looked at him for a moment, confused. What could Inuyasha want to do? (sounds kind of like Blue's Clues!) "Well...Then what do you want to do Inuyasha?" She asked, failing to notice just how her innocent question sounded to the hanyou.  
A million appealing images popped into Inuyasha's head of just WHAT he would like to do. ^_~. Tactfully he refrained from mentioning any of them though. Some of the scenario's he was coming up with could even make him blush!  
"Feh. I don't know anything about your time." Inuyasha responded, forcing some irritation into his voice. Kagome seemed unaffected by it though. "I'll just come up and watch you." The hanyou said, stating it as if it were the obvious solution rather than just asking permission.  
Kagome blushed a little again at how he phrased his decision. Inuyasha noticed, and then recalled his words, and if one looked closely, a suspicious spot of pink lurked on his own cheeks. Unwilling to let Kagome know that he was embarressed by his own choice of words as well though, Inuyasha resorted to scowling instead.  
"Well are we going wench or not?"  
Kagome bristled. Her mouth opened to 'sit' Inuyasha but snapped shut quickly when she realized that the rosary was no longer around his neck. For a second she was about to ask, "How?" But then she remembered. She had taken it off herself.  
'Baka.' Her mind scolded her.  
Kagome merely turned on her heal and went up to her room. Inuyasha followed, his eyes enjoying the sway of her hips as she climbed to stairs.  
Kagome opened the door to her room and immediately went over to her desk. Without hesitating or even looking back she pulled a book down and opened it. As soon as the pages rested where they were supposed to be, she was lost to the world, completely absorbed in a study fever.  
Inuyasha slowly walked through the door. He had never really entered her room this way, he always came through the window. Surprisingly he liked this way more. It made him feel more invited and wanted.  
A small smile threatened to overcome his face.  
Looking around as if he had never been in the room before, Inuyasha took in all the surroundings before moving to sit of Kagome's bed. He bounced slighlty with the rebound of his own force on the springs of the mattress but paid no attention as he shifted to get more comfortable.  
Kagome's bed was nothing like the futon's that he sometimes slept on in his era, though he perferred trees. He scooted backwards until he was backed up against the headboard. Laying the Tetsusaiga at his side he leaned his head back to rest against the wall, turning his eyes slightly so that he could observe Kagome.  
The miko was worrying her lower lip as she concentrated on whatever was in the book in front of her. A strand of hair slipped from over her shoulder to rest in her line of sight. Inuyasha's eyes followed, entranced, as one of Kagome hands came up roboticly to push it back behind her ear. Inuyasha's hand itched to try the same thing with her hair.  
Kagome and Inuyasha seemed not to notice as the time flew by. The miko lost in her studies, and Inuyasha, lost in her. When Kagome finally finished her last book and looked up, the sun was setting. Her gaze immediately turned to fall on Inuyasha, surprised that he had been so quiet and calm for so long. His eyes steadily met her own, causing a shiver of something delightful the run down her spine when she saw the forgeign emotion in them. She hadn't seen that look in his eyes since he had 'tickle- tortured' her.  
She still wasn't sure what it was.  
Inuyasha slowly stood and walked over to her. Kagome drew in a breath as she watched him come closer and closer. When he was less than five inches away from her, he kneeled on the floor so that his eyes were level with her own. His golden orbs averted themselves from her curious stare and moved to something else.  
Her hair.  
One of his hands reached up, the claws on them retracting as a precaution. It made its way closer and closer to the side of her face, until it rested on Kagome's raven tresses. Absently Inuyasha stroked the silken locks as his eyes slowly moved back to meet her own. Vaguely Kagome was aware that she was holding her breath as she became lost in his swirling amber depths.  
"Inuyasha...?" She asked, her voice coming out as barely a whisper. The tone she used sounded more hungry than curious. Hungry for Inuyasha's touch. Hungry for...  
Kagome's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what the look in Inuyasha's eyes was.  
It was lust.  
His hand slowly moved away from her hair. He brushed back a stray wisp of hair, his eyes focusing in concentration as he carefully tucked it behind her human ear. His finger tips lingered on the warm flesh of her lobe before moving to come to her cheek.  
Inuyasha's eyes once again met Kagome's own, this time the desire in them was coupled with something more...gentle.  
'Ahh great.' Kagome's mind whispered, only doing so because she had no idea what else to think. 'Another unidentified emotion for me to figure out.'  
The pads of Inuyasha's calloused fingers traced an invisible line down Kagome's cheek. The faint touch made Kagome shiver dilghtfully once again, and they left desire in their wake. Kagome felt the familiar pooling of heat in her belly that she always felt whenever it came to Inuyasha. She watched, captivated, as Inuyasha's nostrils flared ever so slightly as he drew in her scent. It was almost like he could smell the change in her.  
The lust in his eyes became magnified once again.  
The hanyou's eyes dropped to Kagome's pink lips. Her tongue darted out to moisten them as he did so. Inuyasha gulped in anticitpation at the teasing gesture, though he doubted that Kagome knew what that did to him.  
Slowly his face moved closer to hers. He watched her from half hooded eyes for any sign of hesitation. He could see his own desire reflected in Kagome's sapphire depths before her eyes fluttered shut, her thick lashes resting on her cheeks. Inuyasha could feel a triumphant yelp echo through him as he leaned closer and closer.  
The slow pace was torturous. He could feel her hot breath on his skin and it taunted him, invited him. A tingling went through him as he thought of her soft pink lips crushed against his own.  
'Only a little further.'  
"Inuyasha! I didn't know you were hear!"  
A loud, happy voice snapped the couple apart like a jolt of lightning. Kagome jumped and almost tipped over in her chair in surprise. Inuyasha, startled to the point of using his demonic abilities, leapt to the opposited side of the room, his claws ready to attack the intruder.  
Souta seemed not to notice though as he stood in the doorway looking estatic to see his hero. Both Inuyasha and Kagome visibly relaxed when they saw it was only him, but simultaneously blushed when they remembered what they were about to do when he had walked in.  
Neither could look at the other.  
Again Souta didn't notice.  
Throwing a quick glance over to his sister, the boy remained oblivious to the scarlet blush on her cheeks. "Hey sis! Mom said dinner is ready and to come on down."  
Then his attention quickly snapped back to the warrior dog demon standing before him. "Hey Inuyasha! When dinner's done will you play video games with me? PLease?" The boy begged with puppy dog eyes that could rival Inuyasha's own.  
The hanyou fervrently agreed, eager to do anything in order to avoid Kagome for a moment. Without thinking he picked up the boy and rushed out the door and down the stairs to the kitchen, using some of his youkai speed to help him on his way.  
Souta's squeal of delight was the last thing that Kagome heard before they were out of her sight. She waited a moment before heading down the stairs herself. Giving her flaming cheeks a chance to cool. She had completely forgotten that, with the passing of the day into evening, her mother and brother would arrive at home.  
Standing a little more shakily than she would ever admit, she walked towards the door. Her fingers trailed over her lips as she paused at the top of the stairs.  
Maybe Inuyasha did love her.  
  
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Dinner was eaten quickly, everyone at the table oblivious to the tension between the two young adults. Souta babbled on endlessly, supplying everyone with more than enough converastion as he filled his hero in on his latest conquests in the video game world and demanded to know some of Inuyasha's from the feudal era.  
Pleased that someone was showing an interst in his prowress, Inuyasha jumped at the oppotunity to tell the younger boy about his own victories and battles. Souta listened, mouth hanging slightly open in astonishment as he continued to stare at the hanyou with something akin to reverence.  
Before anyone was ready dinner was over and it was time to clean up. Jiichan was about to try to nail Inuyasha with more wards, but a threatening glare from his granddaughter had him vacating the premises, most likely fleeing to his room to cry about how today's generation had no respect for their elders. Mrs. Higurashi dutifully began picking up after the evening meal and Souta literally dragged Inuyasha up the flight of stairs, locking the Inu in his bedroom to play video games and continue swapping manly stories of conquest. Before Kagome knew it she was left all alone at the low table.  
Slowly standing she made her way back to her room quietly. She smiled in the dim light of the hallway as she recalled Inuyasha during the dinner. She had no idea that he could be such an entertaining story teller. She made a mental note to ask him to tell her more about the battles he took place in when she was gone. It seemed that he liked to talk about them.  
Sighing Kagome closed her door and went over to sit in front of her window. The city lights blocked out most of the stars, but a few were still visible. She found herself longing to return to the feudal era so that she gaze upon the unhindered brilliance of the night sky.  
To think that she had almost given that up because of Kikyo.  
She stared sadly at the few dim stars visible to her eyes.  
She would have gladly given that up to make Inuyasha happy. Her thoughts wandered over the days events.  
But it seemed that Inuyasha was happy with her.  
The miko contined to stare at the stars in the nighttime sky for a while longer, paying no heed to the passing time. She didn't notice as Inuyasha slipped quietly into her room and sat down on her bed, contentedly observing her from the other side of the room.  
Finally Kagome turned around. She jumped a little in surprise to see Inuyasha sitting on the edge of her bed, regarding her almost warmly.  
"Inuyasha. I didn't hear you when you came in here." She said for the sake of breaking the silence. She could've sworn that the corners of Inuyasha's mouth turned up for a moment in an actual smile. She blinked and looked again.  
It was his usual smug smirk.  
"Well, you humans never seem to notice anything unless its right in front of you." He teased, his tone light so that she wouldn't take his words seriously.  
Kagome blushed as she thought of how Inuyasha had been RIGHT in front of her just an hour or so ago.  
'I definately noticed YOU when you were right in front of me.' She thought.  
"Oh really?" Inuyasha asked, his voice smugger than it should have been. Kagome's eyes snapped up to meet his own, something akin to horror in them as she realized what she had just done.  
She had just said THAT aloud.  
The blushed deepened. Damn she was doing a lot of that lately. Blushing that is.  
Inuyasha's eyes held onto her own as he stood and crossed the room with a brisk pace so that he was standing right in front of her. Kagome wanted nothing more than to look away but her eyes were caught in his own, unable to free themselves from his web.  
Inuyasha's hands went to either side of her arms, trapping them against her sides as he leaned foward until his mouth was next to her ear. Kagome nose was all but buried in his silver locks. She couldn't resist taking in a deep breath of his musky, pine scent. Inuyasha heard this and he smirked. He knew that he would never have had the courage to do this yesterday....But now that they were alone, and he knew that she loved him.  
"Do you notice me now?" He whispered in a low, seductive tone. He didn't wait for her resonse as his tongue darted out to lick her earlobe.  
Kagome gasped in pleasant surprise. She could only nod dumbly in response to his question.  
Inuyasha felt her nod and could smell her arousal growing. Masculine pride welled up in his as he lowered his head so that his tongue could dart out and tast her neck. He could feel the shudder that traveled through the girl's body, limp in his arms.  
"I notice you all the time." He whispered in that sexy voice. His tongue darted out again, this time lingering on her skin as he traced a trail up to her jawline, gently brushing her hair out of the way.  
Heat pooled in Kagome's belly for the second time that day she her eyes met his own once again. Both of their gazes were filled with lust. Kagome sucked in a breath of air when she saw that gentler emotion lurking in Inuyasha's eyes.  
She still wasn't sure what it was.  
Inuyasha leaned forward, tilting his head a little so that his lips were just centimeters from her own. Kagome's breath was already coming heavier with just the suspense. Inuyasha's hands trailed down her arms as they moved to rest on her waist, freeing her limbs. But he didn't move any closer to her, instead waiting for her to close the gap between them.  
Without a second thought, Kagome threw her arms around the hanyou's neck and crushed her mouth passionately against his own. With that one kiss she knew that he no longer loved Kikyo. Kagome was the only one on his mind at that moment.  
Inuyasha yelped happily against her lips as Kagome pressed her body into his. He growled appreciatively at the feel of her curves pressed against his form, the sound escaping him similiar to a cat's contented purr.  
Questioningly he nibbled Kagome's lower lip, asking for entrance into her mouth. She was only to glad to comply. Franticly their tongues dueled for dominance, all the while searching the other's mouth. Kagome could feel that she was out of breath, but at the moment oxygen was just too overrated. Inuyasha was the only thing that she needed.  
Unfortunately the kiss had to be broken. Simulateously they both reluctantly pulled back, both panting as they tried to regain their breath and calm their racing hearts. Finally gaining control of herself, Kagome leaned her head against Inuyasha's shoulder. She could hear his heart beating just as fast as hers was and she smiled as he arms snaked all the way around her, pulling her closer to him.  
Neither said a word.  
They just stood there for a moment, standing in the middle of Kagome's room holding eachother, reveling in the other's warmth.  
The moment was broken when Kagome let out a big yawn. Inuyasha pulled away from her just enough so that he could look down. The need for sleep clouded her eyes, but Kagome still managed to blush a little when she met his gaze. Inuyasha smiled gently down at her, a real smile.  
Carefully he lifted her up, bridal style. Slyly he adjusted his hand holding her legs to that it was a little bit up her skirt, grasping her upper thigh. Either Kagome was too tired to notice, or she didn't mind. Inuyasha walked as slowly as possible, delaying the moment that he would have to put her down, to Kagome's bed. He allowed her to support herself by wrapping her arms firmly around his neck once again as he pulled down the blankets enough so that she could slide in. Then he lowered her down onto the mattress.  
Kagome's sapphire eyes searched his own amber ones for something as Inuyasha pulled his arms away from her. Her own did not leave his neck. He continued to smile gently at her. Kagome felt safer and warmer than she had in months with him right there.  
"Inuyasha, where are you sleeping?" She whispered, hoping that he would catch her hint so that she wouldn't actually have to state what she was thinking.  
His brows furrowed in confusion at her innocent question. He opened his mouth to say, "On the branch outside your window." when he snapped it back shut, his eyes widening as he caught on.  
That cocky smirk returned full force as he nodded to show that he understood the question.  
Gracefully slipping in the bed beside her, Inuyasha pulled the covers up over their adjacent forms. Kagome turned onto her side to face him and inched closer. Shyly she she snaked one arm over his chest and rested her head in the crook of his arm. Her small body spooned against him.  
Inuyasha had never felt more complete.  
He caught his breath as one of her silken legs entwined itself with his own. He could feel her skin against his as one of her movements hitched up the right leg of his hakama. He could feel the blood rushing to a certain appendage and silently began to pray to every god that he had ever heard of that he wouldn't get a hard on in Kagome's bed.  
At least not while she awake.  
Fortunately Kagome ceased her suirming as she finally found a comfortable position. Inuyasha turned his head to face hers and looked into her eyes for a moment.  
"G'night Inuyasha." She whispered as she strectched forward a little so the her lips could just barely brush his own. Then she nuzzled her head into crook of his arm once again and closed her eyes.  
Within minutes she was asleep.  
"G'night koi." Inuyasha whispered once he was positive that she was still asleep. "Ashiteru..."  
Kagome smiled in her dreams.  
Soon Inuyasha too closed his eyes and drifted into the best night's sleep that he had ever known.  
  
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	11. Chapter Nine

Before I Die  
  
By: Goijh  
  
Author's note:  
  
Concerning the lemon- It is not going to be coming up for a little while people. Inuyasha still needs to tell Kagome that he loves her. Before he does that though he wants to prove that he loves her for being Kagome, not Kikyo's reincarnation. Remember Kikyo is dead, but he hasn't told Kagome that yet. In fact, Inuyasha is the only one that knows that Kikyo is dead. But the truth shoud be coming out soon. As well as our hanyou's confession. Don't worry!  
  
And I was wondering if anyone was interested in review responses...? *tear* I haven't gotten nearly as many reviews as I had last time, but still...At least I have some right? *fails miserably at trying to look at the bright side of things and instead cries for a little while.*  
  
lol! Sorry, just feeling self pitiful today...I'm chocolate deprived. But if anyone wants to have some review responses then just drop a review and I'll write some up.  
  
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==================================================================== Chapter Nine ___________________________________________________________________________ ====================================================================  
  
Shippo anxiously paced the width of Kaede's hut. Miroku leaned against a wall nearby, calmly sipping the stew that the elderly miko had made for their supper. His serene indigo eyes watched the kistune with a cross between amusement and similar worry.  
At the moment Shippo reminded the houshi of Inuyasha while he waited for Kagome to return from her time.  
That reminded Miroku of why he was as feeling the same anxiety as Shippo.  
Kagome and Inuyasha had left that morning to deliver the young woman to the well so that she could go home. Kiarara and Shippo had been able to confirm that the two had in fact made it there by the use of their youkai noses. But Inuyasha was no where to de found.  
Normally Inuyasha would wait impatiently in the Goshinboku Tree while Kagome was in her time, but at the moment no one knew where he was. Shippo's kitsune nose, slightly more effective than the fire cat's. but still paling in comparison to Inuyasha's dog like senses, had detected an all too familiar scent.  
The scent of earth and bones.  
Of a decayed corpse.  
Kikyo.  
Upon hearing that information, everyone in the group had exchanged meaningful glances. It was beyond anyone's doubt that Inuyasha had stumbled upon the undead miko somewhere along the process of dropping Kagome off and returning to Kaede's to wait for the others to join him. It was anyone's guess that the hanyou had staid true to his predictable nature and taken off after the undead miko.  
Miroku's brow furrowed into a frown. The monk only hoped that Kagome had already been gone. Shippo shared this wishful thinking. They both knew that had Kagome seen Kikyo then the chances of her returning again were relatively slim. There was only so much pain that a young woman's heart could endure.  
Inuyasha had already caused the reincarnation more heartbreak than Miroku thought was possibly for anyone to take. And yet Kagome always came back to him and forgave him.  
The day when she would finally have enough and leave for good was only just around the corner. The hanyou was going to be in for an unpleasant surprise when it finally came.  
Shippo ceased his relentless pacing as he turned for a moment to face the door of the hut. The blanket keeping the cold from coming in and providing some semblence of privacy was pulled aside as the most beautiful woman Miroku had ever seen stepped into the small shelter.  
Sango lowed Hiraikotsu from her shoulder as she sat against the wall opposite of the houshi. The taijiya knew better than to get too close to the pervert. She wasn't going to give him the chance to grope her again today. He was still sporting a bump from earlier when he had been 'assisting' her with an inspection of the stew.  
Or rather an inspection of her ass.  
"Its getting late." Sango finally said softly, breaking the heavy silence in the room. Miroku only nodded. Shippo sighed in aggravation and resumed his pacing.  
A kitten sized Kiarara jumped down from Sango's shoulder where she had been perched and went over to the kit, rubbing against his legs in an attempt to coax him into sitting. The pup hesistated for a minute, torn between his impatient figeting and the comfort of rest. He finally gave into the latter as he let loose a yawn large enough to show all his fangs and probably a clear view down his throat. Sensing that she had won, Kiarara morphed into her larger form and curled into a nearby corner. Shippo was not long in joining her, cuddling himself up into her warm fur and tucking himself in with his tail.  
The demon exterminator and monk watched for a moment as the kitsune's eyes got heavier and heavier, drooping lower and lower until, finally, he drifted to sleep.  
Sango smiled gently. Seeing her smile, Miroku mimicked her expression, more from her herself doing it than at how cute the little youkai looked curled up with the firecat.  
"So. Do you think that he really..." Sango's voice trailed off as her honey brown eyes turned to the monk for reassurance.  
Miroku knew that she wanted the truth from him. And he also knew that even if he wanted to, he couldn't lie to his lady Sango. Quietly he nodded in confirmation to her thoughts, perferring not to voice his opinion aloud for fear that doing so would destroy the possibility that it wasn't true.  
"I can't believe him." Sango scowled as fire flashed in her eyes. "That clay bitch only wants to kill him. He should know that Kagome loves him, and yet every time that woman comes around he runs after her like a pathetic puppy." Her expression darkened at the thought. "I almost hope that Kagome doesn't forgive him this time. He doesn't deserve it."  
Once again Miroku found himself nodding in agreement. "But Lady Kagome is too kind hearted for that." He added in a smooth seductive voice. Sango's head snapped up abruptly at the sound but her expression did nothing to betray the delightful shivers that went down her spine when he spoke.  
"Let's just hope that Kagome-sama does not return before Inuyasha does. I would not want for her to find out about this unless she has too." He continued, painfully oblivious to the affect his voice was having on the woman across from him.  
Sango averted her eyes to the ground. This time she was the one who nodded. She hated keeping things from Kagome, who was like a little sister to her. But she knew that this was one of those things that could only do harm. The miko would be better off not knowing.  
Miroku watched Sango. He knew that it hurt her to keep secrets from her friend, but admired her for her strength and courage. He knew that life had been overly cruel to her, yet she strived not to let it show, pushing forward each day with renewed vigor. Working hard to as she helped to complete the Shikon no Tama and destroy Naraku.  
The taijiya yawned and stretched her arms out in almost a feline manner. Miroku smirked at her, though the facial lacked its usual pervertedness.  
"Tired?" he teased. Sango only nodded.  
Standing gracefully and taking a moment to straighten his monk robes, Miroku crossed the hut to retrieve the blankets that Kaede stored for their use. He grabbed two of them and then returned, passing one to Sango before he kneeled again and began to set up his bedding.  
"Arigatou houshi-sama." Sango thanked him in a quiet voice as she laid down upon the heavy blanket, pulling up one of the edges to cover her body. Miroku soon stretched out very close to her, pulling his own blanket over him to ward off the night's chill air.  
"Good night Lady Sango." He returned, allowing his eyes to close with a lecherous grin on his face as his hand found something warm.  
"Houshi-sama?" Sango queried a little too sweetly. Miroku tensed in preparation from the blow from Hiraikotsu which was right next to the demon exterminator.  
"I would advise you to remove your hand immediately, houshi-sama, and then find your way to other side of the hut. I'm tired and feeling merciful but if you don't immediately comply you shall find yourself intimately acquainted with hiraikotsu."  
Miroku's hand never moved faster.  
Hurriedly moving his makeshift bed several meters away from the tempting woman and her butt, Miroku settled himself down once again. Finally he dared to breath a sigh of relief. Sango had not hit him like she normally did.  
Maybe he was growing on her?  
  
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Inuyasha stirred as light hit his eyes.  
His subconciousness registered that the tree branch beneath him was thicker than the usual ones that he slept on. It was softer too.  
Sensing that it was safe, the hanyou tried to roll over to keep the light from disturbing the peaceful, deep sleep that he was longing to go back to. Something warm and soft blocked his way though. Grumbling about how everything was out to make him miserable and prevent him from getting any rest, Inuyasha cracked open a golden eye to see what was keeping him from his intended goal of rolling onto his side.  
At first everything was blurry as sleep refused to leave his eyes. All he could make out was a big black blob and some peach and white. Then there was some green too.  
Slowly the fuzzy blob began to take a more solid form as it transformed into Kagome. Half asleep the hanyou thought nothing of it except, 'So that's why it smells better than other trees.'  
Then he closed his eyes again and pulled Kagome closer like she was a giant teddy bear. His silver locks splayed on the bed, mingling with her raven tresses as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck.  
Blissful sleep began to return once more.  
Just as he was about to fall back into the desired dream state, amber flashed as his eyes snapped open.  
'KAGOME!'  
Pulling his arms away as if he had been burned, Inuyasha jumped off the edge of the bed, falling onto the floor and hitting his head with a thud muffled by the carpet. Cursing under his breath he adjusted his body into a kneeling posistion.  
Hesitantly he peeked over the edge of the bed. Blinking a couple times to make sure that he had seen right.  
Blink.  
Blink. Blink.  
Yep it was Kagome alright. He had spent the night in Kagome's bed.  
With her in it.  
A smile only ever seen on the likes of Miroku spread across his face.  
'Bad Inuyasha. Bad!' He mentally scolded himself as his eyes began to rove over the sleeping form of Kagome. His mind only chuckled evilly back at him.  
Golden eyes traced the barely concealed curves of the girl in front of him, slowly taking in the sight bit by bit as his sleep fogged mind started to sort through the last night's events leading up to the mornings somewhat too good to be true awakening.  
Inuyasha's eyes slowly moved down the miko's neck and over her steadily rising and falling chest. He was very pleased with himself that he didn't linger unduly on her breasts before continuing down to her flat stomach.  
He finally remembered. The kiss. The embrace. Carrying the young woman to her bed.  
He smiled.  
HER inviting HIM to sleep in her bed.  
His eyes were halted in their greedy search by the blanket still pulled partially over Kagome's hips. Inuyasha wanted to growl at the obstruction in his line of sight but couldn't deny that the miko looked so peaceful when she slept. He didn't want to wake her up.  
The previous night's events still fresh in his mind, warming his blood and assuring him he wouldn't be called a pervert when she awoke, Inuyasha climbed back onto the mattress. His arms slid possessively around Kagome and pulled her close as he buried his nose in her hair, memorizing the scent once again, that was only her.  
  
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Kagome was bathed in sunlight.  
She was sitting under a sakura tree, basking in the beauty of its blossoms. There was a noise behind her and she snapped around to see who was there.  
She knew who it was even before she saw him.  
"Inuyasha..."  
The hanyou crept closer, his pace slow but confident. Finally he sat next to her, cautiously lowering himself to the ground.  
Together, in silence they watched as the wind rustled the hanging branches of the tree, whisking gentle flowers away on unknown adventures.  
Then, Inuyasha had kissed her.  
Silver locks had moved on the edge of her vision. Curious as to what he was doing, Kagome had turned to question the inu youkai.  
And his lips had fallen upon hers in the most gentle, yet passionate, kiss that the miko could ever imagine.  
"I love you Kagome." He whispered as he pulled away, just enough to stare into her eyes.  
She could get lost in his gorgeous golden eyes.  
"I love you too Inuyasha." She whispered in return.  
Then they began to move closer once again, the fire that now burned in the hanyou's eyes sending chills of anticipation down Kagome's spine.  
Their lips were just about to lock in the most passionate confession of their love when suddenly Kagome snapped her head to the side.  
Beep beep beep...  
The miko whirled around with wide eyes, searching franticly for the creator of such a loud obtrusive noise.  
Beep beep beep.  
Inuyasha's ears flinched at every sound. Mild alarm was visible in the now lust free eyes as he joined Kagome in her desperate search.  
Beep beep beep.  
Thinking that the annoying noise was coming from beyond a tree further away, Kagome tried to move but she couldn't. She struggled in the fierce embrace of whatever was holding her, but the invisble arms held tight.  
"Inuyasha!" She cried out, turning her head as much as she could to seek out her protector.  
The hanyou was on the edge of the clearing...but he was...fading away?  
Slowly an awful inky blackness was absorbing the area where the two had just sat. One by one that branches of the sakura fell victim to its boundless dark as it seeped closer and closer like a plague.  
Beep beep beep.  
Inuyasha was almost completely faded now. Kagome could see through him as if he were a ghost in a child's movie. Panicing she increased the fury of her struggles.  
Beep beep beep.  
"Dammit Kagome! Stop flailing and wake up so you can turn this damn thing off!" An unearthly voice that sounded suspiciously familiar echoed throught the air as the remainder of the clearing succumbed to the greedy night.  
Beep beep beep.  
Cursing mentally Kagome opened her eyes and looked around. She frowned at the loss of her dream. It had been such a good one too. She and Inuyasha had finally professed their love and were about to....  
Her eyes fell on the subject of her fantasies.  
"Inuyasah!?"  
The hanyou in question flinched at the shrill sound of her voice. His ears were flattened against his head as much as they could be and even so his hands were gripping them painfully. His entire face was screwed up in a grimace.  
Beep beep beep.  
"Dammit woman turn that thing off or I'll kill it!" He roared, paying no heed to the miko's obvious confusion. Seeing the claws on his head flex threateningly, Kagome hesitated no longer before diving over his body to hit the off button on her clock.  
Not really noticing that she was sprawled out on Inuyasha's lap, or that he sudden movement had flipped up her uniform skirt, Kagome turned an inquiring gaze to Inuyasha.  
Inuyasha's golden eyes were wide with surprise and a modest blush stained his cheeks as he sat there frozen. He looked for all the world like a deer caught in the headlights and didn't know what to do. Except that something in his eyes suggested that he was enjoying something.  
Following his steady gaze, Kagome slowly peered over her shoulder to see what he was so interested in. She was almost afraid to look.  
There it was.  
Her skirt flipped halfway up her back, the blanket tangled around her legs.  
Baring her THONG!  
With a shriek of outrage mixed with embarressment, Kagome flew back, rolling off of the bed and taking the blanket with her. Unfortunately, the shocked Inuyasha was sitting on the blanket as well and was not expecting it to suddenly jump out from underneath him. The result sent him tumbling as well, landing on top of a wide eyed miko.  
Inuyasha bit his tongue to resist the urge to smirk.  
He could feel that he was all but pressed against her body, resting between her legs.  
Not that he minded. (^_^)  
Kagome's face was glowing interesting shades of red as she tried to think of something to say. First she had been interrupted in the middle of a fantasy about Inuyasha, then she had awoken to find that she had 'slept' with him, THEN she had somehow managed to sprawl herself across him - looking for all the world like she wanted him to SPANK her, and NOW she was laying on the floor beneath him, with him between her legs, tangled in her blankets.  
"Mom! Kagome's doing something with Inuyasha!" She heard a little voice cry from her doorway.  
Great.  
And now, due to all the noise they had made, Souta had walked in on them in a compromising posistion.  
Inuyasha watched bemusedly as the emotions flickered rapdily across Kagome face, almost too fast for him to follow. But he had watched her so long it wasn't hard to figure out what she was thinking.  
And she didn't look to disappointed.  
But then her younger brother had walked into the room and shouted to her mother. Inuyasha was no Miroku but even he knew that you never wanted to get caught by a girl's parents. And if you were, you ran. Kagome seemed to be thinking along the same lines as panic became the dominant emotion on her face.  
The smirk couldn't be held back as she began to squirm futilely to get out from underneath him. Damn that felt good!  
"Kagome, " He whispered huskily as he leaned forward, unsure of where he got the courage to say what he was about to. "If you want me to get off of you, I would suggest you stop moving like that."  
As if to give proof of what he was saying, Inuyasha rocked his hips just a little bit and something deliciously hard rubbed into Kagome's thigh.  
The hanyou had no idea it was possible for a human to turn that shade of red.  
Chuckling so low that only Kagome would hear, Inuyasha slowly stood to his feet. When he was up he held down a hand for the paralyzed Kagome to take. She only continued to stare at him in shock.  
'Well at least I where baggy pants.' he thought, glad that all she could do was feel proof and not see it. That might shock her even more. "You can move now wench." He spat out, knowing that that would knock her out of her stupor and make her forget the awkwarness of the moment.  
It worked.  
"You jerk!" She yelled as her mouth miraculously began to work again and she jumped to her feet. Her hands firmly clasped the bottom of skirt, making sure that it would stay down.  
"Sit!" She yelled, her embarressment turning to anger at his blatant disrespect.  
Nothing happened.  
The mortification returned as Inuyasha's smirk grew. She had forgotten that she had taken the rosary off.  
In a flash her tirade of insults and the tempest of her fury died down. She was left standing in silence as Inuyasha continued to grin like a madman down at her.  
"Oops. Habit." She mumbled with an embarressed shrug and nervous smile. She knew how pathetic that sounded, but frankly she had no idea what else to say.  
Inuyasha laughed.  
It wasn't his normal, 'I'm happy because I'm about to kill you' laugh, nor was it 'You're so pathetic' laugh. Instead it was almost musical. A sound of actual mirth. Kagome's downcast eyes lifted in surprise.  
Inuyasha was actually laughing!  
Seeing Kagome staring at him strangely, Inuyasha cut short the proof of his amusement. They stood in awkward silence.  
Suddenly the door, closed as Souta had run downstairs to retrieve his mother, flung open as the boy entered, dragging a bewildered woman behind him.  
"See!" He yelled not bothering to hide the triumphant tone in his voice as he turned to face them. "I told you so!"  
Kagome was suddenly aware of just how she and her room looked. Her alarm clock had fallen on the floor. The mattress was askew. Blankets were lying in a tangled heap on the floor, looking like someone, or rather SOMEONES, had had a good roll around in them. Her own clothes were wrinkled and disheveled, looking for all the world like she had just haphazardly thrown them on. Her hair was a mess.  
Sheepishly she glanced at Inuyasha. His appearence mirrored her own. Excpet he was not looking so guilty or blushing profusely.  
Kagome's nervous smile returned.  
"Morning mom." She squeaked, fully expecting hell to break loose.  
Her eyes squeeezed shut and she tensed, turning her head slightly to the side as she awaited the barrel of loud angry words to get thrown at her.  
Silence.  
Opening her eyes, her brow creasing in confusion, Kagome turned to look at her mother.  
Mrs. Higurashi was just smiling.  
Souta gaped in surprise as his mother turned on her heel and walked out the room. Nothing was said until the older woman reached the stairs.  
"Kagome I would get a move on it. You have school in an hour."  
Silence.  
Souta slowly followed his mother, feet dragging in obvious disappointment. By not getting his sister in trouble, he had failed in his duties as a younger brother. His head hung in something akin to shame as he departed for the kitchen.  
Silence.  
Kagome turned her wide sapphire eyes to Inuyasha, searching for an answer. Golden orbs stared calmly down at her, almost as emotionless as a certain taiyoukai's. Slowly Inuyasha leaned into the frizen girl, making sure to hide all his amusement.  
His lips were only centimeters from her own. He could hear her breathing deeply.  
He leaned in closer until his mouth just barely carressed her own. K agome's eyes shut as she awaited him.  
Amusement finally burst through his barricade and danced freely in his amber depths.  
"School." he whispered.  
That was all he needed to say.  
As if a dangerous red button had just been put, Kagome leapt back and started racing back and forth across her room almost as fast as a demon. Her blankets were thrown unceremoniously upon her bed and random drawerers were thrown open. Various items were retrieved.  
The inu was beginning to get dizzy as he watched the patterless movements of the human blur.  
The last he saw of Kagome was a glimps of her hair as she slammed the door the bathroom shut. Running water could be heard and Inuyasha knew somehow that the tornado was over.  
Carefully, as if he was afraid that at any minute Kagome would appear and cut his nose off as she raced by, Inuyasha vacated the room in favor for the kitchen. He could smell something delicious coming from the room. The tantalizing aroma was all but grabbing him by the olfactory senses and pulling him down there.  
The intoxicating scent got stronger and stronger, mesmerizing him with each step closer he took. By the time the hanyou reached the kitchen he was too far gone to notice the murderous glare of a certain old man on his back. Or even the worshipping one of a young boy and the thrilled glances of a female.  
All he saw was the bowl of beef flavored ramen on the end of the table.  
Descending upon the bowl like a vulture, Inuyasha commenced devouring it until all the remained was a spotless white bowl, glistening like crystal in the lamplight.  
His stomach urged him to belch his appreciation, but Inuyasha had better manners than that.  
Instead he growled his ode to the chef.  
Ramen was such a wonderful thing.  
Suddenly the tornado swept through the kitchen, knocking away the grandfather who had been about to attack the defenseless little hanyou with ofudas, and snatching something that looked like a plate and orange juice from the table.  
The plates were thrown halplessly in the sink and a kiss was planted on Mrs. Higurashi's cheek as Kagome grabbed a bag from the counter and ran out the door.  
Inuyasha blinked a couple times, coming off his ramen high.  
Had Kagome actually been there? He sniffed the air a couple times. Yep! She had.  
The hanyou turned and left out the door on Kagome's heels, narrowly avoiding a dangerous encounter with a crazy old bat and his demon wards. The geezer in question looked like he was about to cry as he watched his prey escape him for the second time that morning.  
It was after all a cruel world where only the strong survive. He would just have to work harder next time.  
  
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Kagome slowed her pace as soon as she left the house. She had glanced at the clock during her brief visit to the kitchen and seen that she had plenty of time to kill. For once she was going to be on time to school!  
Suddenly she felt jewel shards approaching.  
A ton of them.  
Whirling around, expecting the worst, the miko realized that she didn't have her bow. Well of course she didn't. She would never have thought that she would need them here.  
Inuyasha ran up to where she had stopped before the exit of the shrine. The shards were coming from him? She could see a faint glow eminating from a fold in his haori. She wanted to slap herself in the head. Off course the shards were coming from him! She had given them to him!  
Seeing that she had stopped and was waiting for him, Inuyasha slowed his gait to a walk. He added in a cocky swagger just for kicks and giggles. Kagome didn't really seem to notice. She was staring at his haori instead.  
The swagger was lost.  
Inuyasha reached her, but said nothing. Kagome continued to stare pointedly at his haori. What was she looking at?  
The lightblubs lit up over their heads at the same time.  
"Here Kagome, you should hold onto these." Inuyasha said, reaching into his firerat to retrieve the shards.  
"Thanks." She said as she held out her hand. The silver chain the she had fastened them on was still intact. Inuyasha didn't put the shards in her hand though. Instead he held them by the chain and looked expecantly at her.  
Kagome stood there for a moment, confused as to his intentions, but quickly caught on. Her mouth making a silent, 'o' she turned so that he could put the necklace on her. With deliberate slowness, Inuyasha stepped closer as he lowered the chain in front of her. Kagome lifted an arm to move her charcoal hair out of his way, and Inuyasha savored the pale neck revealed to him. Still moving at a snail's pace, he purposely fumbled with the clasps a bit.  
Kagome couldn't help it. She was getting impatient. She needed to leave soon or else she would be late. Knowing that moving away now would injure the hanyou's pride, she instead brought her hands to cover his own. Deftly she helped him go through the motions to secure the chain until the necklace hung around his neck without support.  
She glanced down at it. It looked like it was always belonged their.  
She went to take a step forward, to continue on her way, but strong arms held her in check. Inuyasha pulled her close to him and held her there. He could feel the miko relax in his arms and he smiled. Now that he had finally kissed her, and knew that she loved him, all he wanted to do was hold her.  
Be with her.  
But he wasn't ready to tell her that he loved her yet. Not when she was awake anyways.  
A sad smile crossed his face, but because her back was to him, Kagome didn't see.  
Finally, knowing that school was important to her, and the he couldn't go with her, Inuyasha released the young woman. For a moment she didn't move, desiring nothing more than to stay in his arms. But eventually she did.  
Kagome took two steps foward before she turned on her heel and hurried back. Inuyasha didn't have a chance to register what was happening as Kagome threw her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his cheek. Then she feld the premises.  
But not before he saw the vivid blush coloring her cheeks.  
Inuyasha absently raised a hand to his cheek, carressing the skin where her lips had touched.  
He loved how easily he could make her blush.  
  
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There you go people! And remember to REVIEW!!!!  
  
Please?  
  
~Goijh 


	12. Chapter Ten

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==================================================================== Chapter Ten ____________________________________________________________________________ _ ====================================================================  
  
"Kagome!"  
Said girl whirled around to see who was calling her name as she approached the school door. Somehow she wasn't surprised when she saw three very perky school girls running towards her, smiling and waving like there was no tomorrow.  
"Oh, Eri, Yuka. Ayame. Hi there!" Kagome managed to say just before the air was forced out of her lungs as she was pulled into a breath crushing embrace. Fortuanely for the young woman, she was only just beginning to turn blue when her friends released her and all at once began to "Ooh" and "Ahh" at once over her remarkable recoveries.  
"...Smallpox...."  
"You're so brave..."  
"....And that brain tumor..."  
"You know, it doesn't look like you only have one breast."  
Kagome froze. "What?" She squeaked out. Already she could feel the beast inside of her begging to scramble a certain grandfather.  
"Yeah." Eri continued as if she didn't notice the fierce mortified blush taking over Kagome's upper body. "When you had the breast cancer and you needed to have it removed or you would die." Her friend regarded Kagome with a look akin to awe and reverence. "I don't think that I would ever be able to make a choice like that. What did you do, get a special water bra? Or did you have plastic surgery?"  
Kagome's arms flew up to cross against her chest defensively. Her curious friends looked for all the world like they were going to start poking her breasts if she didn't get away from there now just to see how effective the 'water bra' or sillicone really was.  
"Guys!" the miko shrieked, unable to hide her embarressment from flooding her voice. "What do you think that you're doing?" The words had the desired affect as the three girls suddenly stopped in their onslaught, their pointed index fingers only inches from Kagome's arms.  
For a moment no one said anything. They all just looked at eachother as realization slowly dawned upon them. Any guilt or awkwardness that they might have been feeling though was quickly dissipated when the bell rung.  
Kagome was now officially late for school.  
Jiichan would pay. ___________________________________________________________________________ ===================================================================  
  
Inuyasha paced the length of Kagome's room.  
He had no idea what to do with himself while she was at school. He didn't want to return to the Feudal Era quite yet. He wanted to stay and wait for her to come home.'  
But how long would that be?  
Inuyasha growled in frustration as he fought the urge to just track the miko down and forcibly take her with him. She couldn't sit him anymore now. It would be fairly simple. He growled again. He couldn't do that. School was important to Kagome. Kagome was important to him. Therefore school was important to him.  
Wait a minute.  
Is that how it was supposed to work?  
Inuyasha paused for a moment as his brows furrowed in concentration, trying to figure out the proper way to word the...the...thing.  
His intellectual pondering though was interrupted as Kagome's door was pushed open. Mrs. Higurashi walked in wearing a motherly smile and carrying an armful of those strange clothes that Kagome always wore.  
"Why hello Inuyasha. You're still here?" The woman asked conversationally as she moved over to her daughter's bureau and began to place the garments in the drawers. Inuyasha crossed his arms, burying his hands in the sleeves of his haori and turning his nose in the air as he gave an idignant, "Hmph."  
Mrs. Higurashi smiled a little. "I'll take that as a yes."  
Inuyasha didn't even pretend to humor that statement with any kind of response. Kagome's mother though didn't seem to notice though as she continued to put clothes into the bureau. Almost against his will, Inuyasha found himself watching out of the corner of his eye at the peculair manner in which the woman placed the clothes into different drawers.  
What was the point?  
"Well that should do it." Mrs. Higurashi announced as she straightened and closed the drawers. Rubbing her hands together she turned to look at the clock quickly. "Well look at that, lunch time already." She exclaimed. Turning to walk out the door she paused only long enough to tell Inuyasha that she would make him some ramen before she was gone.  
Inuyasha stood still for a moment, his eyes narrowed on the doorway as if he expected someone to come jumping through any moment. Kagome's grandfather was in the shrine though and with his hanyou hearing, Inuyasha could tell that her mother was in the kitchen as she said she would be. Content that no one was going to catch him doing something that he felt he shouldn't, Inuyasha walked over to the dresser.  
His ears flicked about madly, picking up on every little sound in mild paranoia. But what was he afraid of? It's not like he could get sat or anything. And he would know if anyone was coming long before they could get even close enough to hear him.  
Inuyasha's hand reached out and clasped the handle of the drawer, curiosity getting the best of him as he pulled it open. Intrigued, the hanyou stared down at the colorful garments folded up inside. Pulling one out he found them to be shirts. His eyes widened as he examined a few. Some of the shirts were so tiny that Inuyasha wasn't sure Shippo could even fit in them. On others the sleeves were mere pieces of string. Then there were others that looked like they would bare down to Kagome's belly-button they were so low cut.  
He felt the blood rushing to a certain appendage as he created a mental picture of what Kagome would look like wearing some of the shirts. 'Not good.' Inuyasha quickly put the clothes back and closed the drawer.  
Jumping back as if he had been burned, he perched carefully on the edge of the bed. He eyed the bureau warily. It was tempting him to return and see what was in the other drawers. Inuyasha's claws flexed futilely in an effort to keep his will power around him.  
But Kagome wasn't home.  
And no one was around to catch him...  
Besides, it was only clothes. What was wrong with looking at them?  
Inuyasha quietly walked back over to the dresser. This time he opened another drawer. Inside were those skirt things and strange pants. Some of the skirts were even shorter than the green one that Kagome often wore. Inuyasha couldn't keep the shock from his face as he held one up for examination. It looked like it would barely cover his bitch's ass. Not that he had any complaints but there was no way in hell that anyone else was going to see his Kagome in something so revealing. Looking around quickly to check that no one was watching, Inuyasha grabbed a couple of the skirts and shoved them in his haori. He would either burn them of hide them somewhere in the feudal era until they were needed for more personal use.  
He smirked.  
If only Kagome knew what he was doing.  
Closing the drawer, Inuyasha's hands fell on the final one. As he slowly pulled it open, he felt a hentai grin cross his face. He knew just what was in this drawer, though he really shouldn't.  
Kagome's under garments.  
He blamed Miroku.  
It was all the monk's fault.  
Inuyasha poked cautiously at a couple particularly lacy things. He recognized a couple of the clothes as bras and some others as underwear. Not that he had seen them before of course! He would never spy on Kagome bathing.  
Honestly.  
It wasn't technically spying if he was protecting her at the same time was it?  
Inuyasha had the decency to blush as he lifted one of the underwear pieces on the tip of his finger. It was basically just string! How the hell could she wear something like that? Heat flooded him as a visual memory of Kagome's skirt flipping up while she was sprawled across his lap flashed in his mind.  
THAT was how she could wear one of those.  
"Inuyasha!"  
Mrs. Higurashi's voice made the hanyou jump a mile as he dropped the thong into the drawer and slammed it shut hastily. Then he dove onto the bed, almost falling off as he tried to make it look like he had been sitting there innocently all this time. He cheeks were burning red. He didn't know why he was feeling so guilty. After all, it was just clothes.  
He looked down into his lap.  
Okay, maybe THAT reaction had something to do with his sheepishness, but still...He hadn't done anything wrong.  
'Stupid wench. Makes me feel guilty when she's not even here!' He thought, becoming grumpy as he once again crossed his arms. Scowling at the wall for feeling even the slightest bit of shame, the inu forgot that Mrs. Higurashi had even called him in the first place.  
But he couldn't ignore the smell of ramen for long.  
Eventually the beef noodle scent reached his nose and Inuyasha all to happily followed it downstairs as if he was on cloud nine.  
Kagome would never notice that he had gone through her bureau.  
Nope, the clothes hanging out haphazardly and the mess within the drawers were no hint at all.  
...  
Right. ___________________________________________________________________________ ===================================================================  
  
Kagome thrummed her fingers impatiently on the desk's surface as she stared at the clock.  
Only a couple more minutes to go and she would be free.  
Only two more minutes.  
The second hand ticked idly as it SLOWLY rotated past the numbers.  
One more minute now.  
The pace of her finger drumming increased as the suspense began to get to her.  
Only a few more seconds.  
The second hand stopped.  
Kagome froze, her mouth dropping to the floor as she stared at the face of the clock. Less than ten seconds to go and the thing had stopped!  
'Ring!'  
Her body jumped in surprise as the sound of the bell echoed through the halls. 'Oh yeah.' she thought as her cheeks flushed a little in silent embarressment. 'The bell's set to a different clock.' Without saying a word, Kagome quickly grabbed the books that she had already gotten together and prepared to flee down the hallway.  
And she would have made it too.  
If it weren't for the chest that suddenly blocked her way.  
Only barely managing due to her Feudal Era enhanced reflexes, Kagome skidded to a stop before she crashed into the person in front of her. She could feel the groan of frustration already building in her chest as she slowly raised her eyes to look up into the face of the inevitable.  
"Hojo-kun." She chirped with false cheer. Her friends, who had a moment before been about to run after her, began to giggle uncontrollably as they snuck past Kagome and inched out the door.  
"Good luck Kagome!" Yuka whispered in her ear before Eri grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her away. The miko was left alone to face the demon.  
"Why Kagome-san. It's so nice to see that you've recovered nicely from your surgery." Said Hojo with a sickeningly happy smile as he looked down at her. Kagome could feel her face blaze crimson to the roots of her hair as she hugged her books as close to her chest as possible.  
'PLEASE kami say he's not talking about THAT alleged surgery.' She prayed. One look at Hojo told her that it was not so. He was holding out a floral wrapped package and blushing almost as much as she was.  
"I got this for you. It should...um..help to...disguiseyourproblem." He stuttered as he thrust the the parcel into her face and looked away. Kagome couldn't help it. There was no way in hell that she was going to accept that thing. She didn't even WANT to know what was inside.  
"Why thank you Hojo-kun." She replied in a deceptively sweet tone as she shifted her books in order to free one arm to grasp the gift. "That was very kind of you."  
Hojo glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. His faced immediately flared and his gaze dropped to his nervous shuffling feet.  
"Well...ah...I should go now!" He squeaked as he turned to leave. Kagome's arm shot out to stop him as he turned though. 'Urgh! Why am I doing this?' She thought as she groaned inwardly.  
"Um Hojo?" She pleaded, her voice barely above a whisper. Hojo peeked at her over his shoulder questioningly.  
"I know that you've been worried about me." She began, "And its really sweet and all that you're getting me all these things but...Well..."  
  
Hojo turned fully around to look at her, his eyes wide as she stared at her downcast head.  
"Well, I think that you should just forget about me. There's tons of other girls out there that are so much better than I am and who would love to be with you." She finished lamely.  
Hojo just continued to stare at her dumbly. Or at least he did until suddenly his eyes lit up and that stupid annoying smile plastered itself onto his face once again.  
"Oh your very generous Kagome-san!" He declared. "But don't worry about me. I enjoy doing things like this for you." He leaned closer as his voice dropped a level or two, "And don't you worry about you're problem. I don't mind if you only have one breast." He whispered.  
Kagome stood there, her entire body went rigid. 'WHAT?!' Her mind screamed as her bewildered eyes stared incredulously at the boy in front of her. Her jaw began to flap uselessly, trying to form some coherent thought or sentence or even word, but no sound came out.  
"Well I'll see you tomorrow!" Hojo cried as he turned and walked away, leaving the poor school girl to stare helplessly at his back. Kagome's jaw continued to move even after he was out of her sight.  
Ten minutes later, the halls were almost completely devoid for life except for the janitor who was whistling as he swept the tiled floor.  
"WHAT?!"  
An inhuman shriek rang out through the halls, startling the elderly custodian as he jumped and clutched his heart. The broom fell to the floor, clanging loudly against the tile. The sound echoed through the hallways as the man made a sign against evil.  
Only an enraged demon could possible make a terrifying sound like that. _________________________________________________________________________ ==================================================================  
  
Ojiichan was merrily sweeping the stairs in the front of the shrine when he heard someone call his name. 'A customer!' He thought, straightening out and turning to greet whomever was interested in touring his shrine.  
His face faulted when he saw his loving granddaughter storming over to him, something that looked suspiciously like a bra in one hand with scraps of floral wrapping paper clutching in the other. His weakening eyes focused on the lingerie dangling in the air. There was something strange about it, that there was (I LOVE KENSHIN! ^_^; If you don't know-don't ask.). One side of the garment was limp cloth, but the the other side was bloated, like it was filled with...water?  
The old man gulped as he realized why his darling Kagome's face was so red.  
The surgery.  
He was one dead little old dude now.  
He spun around, the adrenaline beginning to flow through his veins as he searched franticly for an escape. His eyes darted futiley before finally landing on a door.  
Saved!  
He hesitated for a moment to look over his shoulder. Kagome was almost upon him. Was it just him or was that actually a vein popping out on her temple. Oh well. He really didn't want to stick around to find out.  
With an 'Eep!' he ran with unnatural speed towards the closed door. He could hear Kagome's shoes pounding on the ground as she drew closer. He could almost FEEL her breathing down his neck.  
He was almost there. Only a little farther.  
Eureka!  
'Sanctuary!' His mind screamed as he flung open the door to find...  
A closet?  
His heart sank to his stomach.  
Gulp.  
"Oh Jii-chan..." A melodic voice with an undertone of malice called out to him. Slowly he turned around.  
There was Kagome's smiling face leering down at him.  
He was doomed. ____________________________________________________________________________  
  
====================================================================  
  
Inuyasha's head snapped up at the sound of Kagome's voice calling out to her mother through the house.  
"Hey mom! I'm home!"  
Yawning in a dog-like manner, Inuyasha stretched his arms out above his head and straightened his legs. He had been having a really good dream. He smirked wickedly as he recalled the details.  
Kagome had killed her grandfather.  
Sniffing the air to take in Kagome's scent with was already premeating the air, Inuyasha jumped to his feet and ran out of her room and down the stairs. He arrived in the kitchen just in time to see Kagome throwing some kind of patterned paper into the trashcan.  
"Wench, what took you so long?" He demanded in a gruff voice as he stared at her and crossed his arms over his chest. Kagome jumped a little at the sound of his voice, spinning around to see who was behind her.  
"Oh, hey Inuyasha." She managed when she saw who it was. Even from across the room the hanyou could hear her heart beating rapidly as her eyes fell upon him, and it wasn't JUST due to shock. Being the man, or rather demon, that he was, he couldn't help but smirk haughtily as he walked over to her.  
"Bitch, I asked you a question."  
Kagome's eye twitched in anger as she stared up at the inu who was now towering over her. Her fists clenched. Today was not a day to push her limits.  
"I had something to take care of." She replied gritting her teeth. The irritation began to diminish though as she thought of what she had done to her poor grandfather. One breast her ass. Old man would think twice next time before he told medical stories like that!  
Inuyasha was going to press her further but wisely decided against it when he saw the dangerous smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. Nothing good ever came out of hassling a female with a look like that on her face.  
"Well, I'm going to get my bag and then we can head back to your time!" Kagome finally said, surprising Inuyasha a bit as she pushed past his looming figure and bounded up the stairs to her room.  
Wait.  
Her room.  
Flashes of clothes hanging out of bureaus and flung open drawers flashed though his head.  
Shit.  
Inuyasha raced off after Kagome. Fate was with him, he reached the top of the stairs just as she was reaching for her door knob.  
"Wait! Kagome!" He cried out.  
The miko paused. She turned to look at him in confusion. He had called her by her name. Her eyes narrowed suspicously. What had he done this time.  
"What Inuyasha?" She asked.  
"Um..Well..." The hanyou stumbled for an answer. Kagome heaved an impatient sigh and began to reach for the knob again. "I'll get your bag for you!" He blurted out as he sprinted in front of her, blocking the door.  
Kagome's eyebrows shot up in bewilderment. "You'll what?" She squeaked out.  
Inuyasha found himself getting a bit annoyed, it wasn't that hard to believe that he would do something like that for her was it? He couldn't let himself get angry though, or else Kagome would see what he had done to her room.  
"Why?" She demanded, folding her arms across her chest as she stared at him. Didn't she think that he was capable of doing something nice?!  
Inuyasha resorted to desperate measures. It was playing dirty sure, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't work. OR that they BOTH wouldn't like it.  
"Feh. Do I have to have a reason to something for my bitch?" He asked as he flashed an unbelievably sexy grin at her. Kagome's eyes widened as the words reached her ears.  
HIS bitch?!  
Before she could question him though, his lips came crashing down on hers in a demanding passionate kiss. All coherent thought was lost to her raging hormones as Kagome found herself moaning into his mouth. Where did he learn to kiss so well?  
The miko could feel her knees go weak as Inuyasha nibbled gently on her bottom lip, seeking permission to deepen the kiss. Kagome didn't think twice before she obliged, opening her mouth so that he could slip his tongue into hers. For a moment, Inuyasha forgot that he was standing in front of Kagome's door and why he was kissing her like this.  
Then again, he didn't really care. The only thought on his mind was how good Kagome tasted as his senses shut down.  
"Eew! Gross!"  
An all too familiar voice broke the couple out of their moment as they jumped apart, a sinking feeling already forming in the pits of their stomachs.  
Souta was standing at the top of the stairs, staring at them in disgust. "Geez. Get a room you guys!" He yelled as he stuck his tongue out and ran back down to where he came from.  
Kagome's face was beet red. Inuyasha's was slightly pink. They both slowly met each other's gaze. Neither said anything for a moment.  
"Mom!" Souta's voice made them jump once again. Their faces paled.  
"Inuyasha, grab my bag and meet me by the well!" Kagome ordered as she turned on her heel and began to run down the stairs. "Someone needs to die."  
Inuyasha just stared at where she had been standing for a moment before her words made sense to him. He smirked. Mission accomplished.  
Strutting confidently, he turned and walked...right into Kagome's door.  
Oops.  
Confidence shattered and cheeks scarlet, the hanyou fumbled with the knob, turning it and forcing the door open. As quickly as possible he righted some of the things that he had messed up in Kagome's room before grabbing her over sized pack and jumping out the window.  
Hopefully Kagome's mother would finish cleaning up the mess he had made. __________________________________________________________________________ ==================================================================  
  
Kagome walked out the front door moments later looking oddly satisfied with herself. Looking towards the well house she saw Inuyasha there waiting for her. Smiling she waved to him and then jogged over.  
"Well, shall we be going then?" She asked, not waiting for an answer as she pushed open the well house door and grabbed Inuyasha's hand, dragging him in after her. Before she could pull him over to edge of the well though, she found herself letting out an, "Eep!" of surprise as she swept off of her feet and into Inuyasha's arms. Before she could protest though, his lips were once again on hers and the magic of the well was surrounding them as they fell through time and space.  
The pressure left Kagome's lips and she felt a small jerk go through her body as Inuyasha landed on the other side of the well and then pushed off to get out of it.  
Feudal Japan.  
As soon as Inuyasha's feet touched the grass surrounding the well, they were attacked.  
"Kagome!"  
Inuyasha snarled as Shippo launched himself into his surrogate mother's arms, nuzzling her neck and burrowing against her chest.  
"Hey Shippo!" Kagome laughed as she ruffled his hair and moved to slide out of Inuyasha's arms. Relectantly the hanyou consented and allowed the young woman to stand on her own feet. He couldn't help bit admit though that he missed the feel of her in his arms. He glared jealously at the kitsune who was shamelessly racing all over Kagome. What the inu wouldn't give to be the little kit right then.  
Inuyasha's ears perked up as he heard someone approaching. A moment later and he could smell them.  
"Kagome-chan!"  
"Lady Kagome!"  
Sango and Miroku burst into the clearing, hurrying toward their friend. Their pace slowed though when they saw Inuyasha standing behing their miko companion. They watched him for a moment in confusion and surprise before averting their gaze to Kagome. Or at least Sango did. Miroku let his eyes linger on Inuyasha a little longer, casually meeting his golden stare. Inuyasha flinched when he saw the appalled look in the houshi's indigo depths. What had he done wrong now?  
"Hi Miroku. Sango-chan!" Kagome called out, waving to them before allowing Shippo to pull her away. The kit was insisting that she come with him because he had found something,'Really cool.' What he was actually doing was leading her away so that the monk and taijiya could confront Inuyasha about running off with Kikyo without worrying about Kagome accidentally over hearing.  
She didn't need any more pain from Inuyasha.  
Inuyasha's muscled tensed reflexively as he watched Kagome disappear back towards the village with Shippo, leaving him alone with the pissed off monk and demon exterminator. Whatever he had supposedly done this time, Inuyasha had an idea that it wasn't going to be pretty.  
BONK!  
"Ow! What the fuck was that for you asshole?!" Inuyasha demanded, rubbing his head where the priest's staff had just connected.  
WHACK!  
"WHAT THE HELL SANGO!" Inuyasha yelled this time. There was no way that he was just going to stand there and let them hit him when he had no idea why they were.  
"I can't believe that you would do that Lady Kagome." Miroku scolded.  
  
"Hopefully she doesn't know, though I can't imagine how she couldn't." Added Sango.  
The two humans stood, hands on hips, glaring at the bewildered hanyou.  
"Do what?" Inuyasha demanded, honestly confused. At first he assumed that they were angry with him because they thought that he had brought Kagome back early, but that had been Kagome's own decision and his companions didn't seem to be talking about that anyway.  
BONK!  
"Running off with Kikyo like that!" Miroku shouted.  
WHACK!  
"Was Kagome at least through the well before you did that?" Sango demanded, not even bothering to put hiraikotsu behind her shoulder this time but instead holding it in an offensive posistion, ready to maul the hanyou depending on his next answer.  
By now, Inuyasha had two sightly bumps on his head, and contrary to popular belief, they weren't knocking any sense into him. Instead they were making his head spin and it was hard to think straight.  
"But I didn't run off with Kikyo." Inuyasha protested weakly as he watched the ground lurch and spin in front of him. The sky was some really pretty colors right now. He didn't even know that those shades existed.  
Miroku and Sango glanced at eachother. At the moment Inuyasha looked too pitiful to be lying, rocking back and forth, his eyes barely focusing. Maybe they shouldn't have hit him THAT hard. Miroku slightly shook his head. Shippo had smelled Kikyo nearby and if he could then Inuyasha definately could. And the hanyou had been missing the last couple of days too.  
They prepared to hit him again.  
"Dammit you two listen to me! I was in Kagome's time!" Inuyasha insisted as the world slowly began to steady and clear. Sango almost dropped her weapon in surprise and Miroku's jaw fell before curving back up into a lecherous grin.  
"Why Inuyasha, I had no idea that you and--"  
WHACK!  
Inuyasha winced as Miroku fell down.  
"You what?" inquired Sango incredulously as she lowered the giant boomerrang.  
"Feh. I don't see why its any of your business anyways." Inuyasha spat as he turned his nose up and two the side, crossing his arms in his accustomed manner.  
Sango was too surprised to question him further. Whatever she had been expecting, his answer was not it, yet somehow she didn't feel that he was lying. Sensing her surrender, Inuyasha snorted triumphantly and stormed off after Kagome and Shippo, leaving Sango alone with the ecchi monk.  
The demon slayer stared down at Miroku's unconcious form for a moment before shrugging and walking away. He would wake up soon and could find his own way to the village. ___________________________________________________________________________ ===================================================================  
  
Mrs. Higurashi brushed her hands on her skirt as she walked out of her daughters room. Kagome had made quite a mess this visit. Normally she was so neat...  
The woman smiled obliviously as she walked down the stairs, past the tied up form of a boy lying on the living room floor, and into the kitchen.  
Souta groaned pitifully as he watched his mother walk away. He would have wait even longer now before he could be untied and ungagged.  
Kagome's mother hummed cheerfully to herself as she put a pot on the stove to boil some water for tonight's supper. She was just about to get the meat out of the refrigerator when the door slammed in the other room and a distressed cry reached her ears.  
Immediately alert she fled the room, chasing after the voice that sounded suspiciously like her father. In her haste she almost tripped over her son. Luckily she remembered to hop at the last minute. Souta groaned loudly trying to get her attention but it was too late. Mrs. Higurashi was a woman with a mission, and she was off again.  
Rounding the corner the woman came across a sight that would probably haunt her for the rest of her days. There stood her father, turning around in circles like a puppy chasing its tale as he tried to remove a BRA from his chest.  
But not just any bra - It was a onesided water bra? Mrs. Higurashi cocked her head to the side as she watched Jii-chan try to unclasp the back of the underwear. What was her father doing running around looking like he had a boob?  
Deciding that she would have nightmares if she asked, the woman instead walked forward and placed her hands on the old man's shoulders, effectively halting his erratic struggling. Jii-chan looked up at her, his face furrowed with lines of distress and anguish.  
"How the hell do you women manage to take these things off?" __________________________________________________________________________ ==================================================================  
Inuyasha leaned back against the wall of Kaede's hut, watching the gentle rise and fall of Kagome's chest as she slept. Sighing he ran a hand through his thick silver mane. He wanted to be near her, touch her, curl up next to her. He wanted to sleep with her the way that he had the night before.  
His eyes narrowed in irritation as he glared at Shippo.  
But he couldn't even if he had had the nerve to while the others were around. Because Shippo was already comfortably curled up in HIS, Inuyasha's, spot!  
A noise in the corner diverted Inuyasha's attention for a moment as Miroku turned over in his sleep, rolling dangerously close to Sango. You would think that the monk would learn to sleep as far away as possible, but no. He must be some kind of masochist of something.  
Inuyasha chuckled at the thought.  
It would certainly explain all the groping and 'Would you bear my child' shit.  
Golden eyes fell back upon Kagome as she let out a soft sigh in her sleep. A smile crossed her face as she rolled over onto her back. Curious, Inuyasha inched closer until he was leaning almost directly over her. What he she dreaming about?  
Shippo kicked in his sleep and Kagome shifted. The hanyou tensed for a moment, expecting the miko to wake up and yell at him about being a pervert or something. She would probably forget and try to sit him too. Inuyasha smirked at that last thought. That would be amusing. No one else had noticed that he wasn't wearing his rosary anymore, and that was just fine with him. It would make the expressions on their faces all the more priceless when Kagome messed up and tried to sit him.  
An enticing scent caught his nose. Inuyasha sniffed tentatively before snapping his gaze down to the girl in front of him.  
Something was arousing her.  
"Inuyasha..." She whispered as she shifted in her sleep once again. Inuyasha eyes widened. She was dreaming of him? Masculine pride swelled to dangerous levels as he leaned closer, intent on listening to what else she had had to say.  
Shippo whimpered in his sleep.  
The smile on Kagome's face faded as she rolled once again, this time curling protectively around Shippo as if he was her own pup. Inuyasha smiled at the gesture. She would make a wonderful mother if they ever had pups of their own.  
Suddenly a yawn overcame the hanyou. Inuyasha looked up out of habit and then cursed mentally when he remembered that he was inside a hut and couldn't see the moon or the stars to try to guess what time it was.  
He should probably get to sleep.  
Cautiously leaning forward he gently brushed his lips against Kagome's cheek. "Good night my Kagome." He whispered in her ear before rocking back on his heels and leaving the hut. More silently than the best of thieves, Inuyasha leapt into the tree outside of Kaede's hut where he normally slept while in the village. Before settling down to rest though, he reached into his haori and pulled out the skirts that he had taken from Kagome's room. Chuckling to himself he stashed them in an almost completely obscured hollow.  
'I wonder what she would do if she found out that I took those.' He thought to himself before settling back against the tree trunk and closing his eyes.  
Moments later he was asleep. ________________________________________________________________________ ================================================================  
A cruel laugh echoed in the darkened room as a man stared down at the image in the mirror of a sleeping hanyou. A ghostly pale young girl slowly lowered the looking glass, clutching it to her chest as she backed away before turning and leaving the room.  
A dark haired man with crimson eyes and an evil aura surrounding him watched as the his incarnate left. Once he was sure she was gone he allowed himself to lean his head back against the rice paper wall. A conniving smirk spread across his thin, malicious looking lips.  
"This should be very interesting." 


	13. Chapter Eleven

Before I die  
  
by: Goijh  
  
Author's note: I'm back! For all of you who read my profile page (which I somehow don't think many of you did since I recieved no response on it.) you know why I have been gone so long. The good news is: I'm back! YAY!  
  
Anyways, here is the long awaited chapter eleven! I haven't started chapter twelve yet, but it should be out soon. And for those of you who asked, the lemon(s) will not be out for a while longer. When I do get to them, I'll leave an author's note or something that says so that people can let me know if they want to read it. I think that I'll just e-mail it to those people that either review or e- mail me and say that they want me to send them the lemon. However, I am still considering posting my own fanfiction sight...And putting this version of the story on AFF.net. Maybe even MM.org.... We'll just have to see.  
  
Anyways, on with the fic!  
  
____________________________________________________________________ ============================================================= Chapter Eleven ____________________________________________________________________ =============================================================  
  
Kagome glanced at Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye. His long silver hair was swaying in rythym to his confident pace as he walked down the forest path. For a moment Kagome staired at his back, willing him to turn around and...  
Well she wasn't sure what she wanted him to do. But she would settle for even the smallest intimate glance. It had been almost a week since she had returned with him from her time. Almost a week since they had last been alone. Almost a week since he had last kissed her.  
Absently Kagome raised her fingers to her lips as she recalled the way her knees had gone weak when his lips had crushed her own in one of the passionate kisses they had shared. Why hadn't he kissed her since then?  
Didn't he want her anymore?  
Did she do something wrong?  
Kagome's eyes fell from the hanyou's back and lowered to the ground, her bangs shielding the misery in them from view. Shippo, who was riding on the miko's shoulder, sensed her distress and gently nuzzled her neck. He wasn't sure what was going on but he knew that it had to be something to do with the half demon that his okasaan had been staring at a moment ago.  
Shippo was not the only one that noticed anything though. Miroku glanced at Kagome out of the corner of his eye, concern playing across his features. He couldn't help but notice the severe change in the young woman's normally cheerful attitude. He suspected that it had to do with Inuyasha though. Heaving an inaudible sigh Miroku made a mental note to talk with the dog demon later.  
When Kagome had first returned from her era last week, there had been a sparkle in her eyes that the monk could have sworn had not been there before. That, coupled with her frequent secretive glances at Inuyasha had lead him to believe that something had asspired between the two of them. Then the day after her return, they had all discovered that Inuyasha no longer had his rosary when Kagome had tried to sit him and it mysteriously didn't work. Miroku had been shocked to say the least at this development, he couldn't understand for the world why Kagome would have removed the magic beads. But it did help confirm his theory of a new status in their relationship.  
But, as the days had passed on, Inuyasha had done nothing out of the normal. Kagome's behaviour had begun to become dejected and her secretive glances at the hanyou were no longer full of mirth and joy, but of confusion and sadness.  
Had Inuyasha called off the relationship or something?  
Or did the change have to do with Kikyo's lingering scent at the well when they had returned?  
Suddenly Kagome ceased walking, causing a chain reaction within the small group as everyone else stopped as well. All eyes were on her now, patiently waiting for an explanation, except for a pair of amber ones, that though on her, could never be patient.  
"Jewel shard." She said simply, not meeting Inuyasha's eyes but instead looking at Sango and Kiarara as if informing them of the news. Miroku couldn't help but note that Inuyasha's ears drooped a little when the miko did this, but as he knew not what to make of it, he ignored it.  
Kagome clenched her eyes shut for a moment as she concentrated on the location of the shard. It was pretty far away compared to what she was used to. She briefly wondered if her miko powers were increasing and that was allowing her to sense things at greater distances.  
"It's that way. A bit far off though." She finally said, this time looking towards Miroku. Inuyasha's ears drooped more and for a moment that monk thought that he saw actual confusion and pain flicker across the hanyou's face, but the next moment it was gone. The houshi snuck a glance at Sango and found that she was watching him as well. The taijiya's curious brown orbs darted to Inuyasha and Kagome and then back to Miroku. The monk nodded slightly to confirm that he too had noticed and then shrugged before turning to face Kagome again.  
"Well, Lady Kagome, let's go. The sooner we retrieve it the sooner we can resume on our quest." He offered to the young woman who was looking a little uncertain. The priestess' eyes darted over to Inuyasha and then back to the ground. Miroku suddenly understood the hesitation, she wasn't sure if she would be riding on Inuyasha's back as was customary or not. Miroku raised a brow at this. Whatever was going on between them, they would have to get it resolved soon or he would embarress them both by bringing it out into the open.  
Seeing the truly dejected look in Kagome's sapphire eyes though he decided to take pity and help the girl out. "Kagome-sama, will you be riding on Inuyasha's back or with us on Kiarara?" He queried.  
Kagome's head shot up and Inuyasha, who had turned away to sniff in the direction Kagome had said the shard was in, spun around to glare increduously at them. The miko's mouth hung open uselessly as she tried to form a coherent sentece, unsure of how to answer the monk but unwilling to ask Inuyasha. Fortunately the hanyou unknowingly came to her rescue.  
"Of course she's riding on my back bouzo. Why the hell wouldn't she?" He yelled as if affronted. Kagome's eyes widened and she stared at him in surprise. To be honest, she hadn't been expecting him to say that. When she saw that he was serious though, her eyes immediately lit up brighter than Miroku had seen them in days.  
Inuyasha didn't seem to notice the change though as he 'feh'ed and turned away once again, this time bending a little so that Kagome would be able to get on his back. Miroku flashed Kagome a quick smile before he too turned away and walked over to where Sango was already waiting for him on Kiarara's back.  
Kagome hesitated for a moment before going over to Inuyasha and climbing on his back. He had been so quick to answer. Did that mean that there wasn't something wrong after all? Maybe he was just shy or something like that now that the others were around. The hanyou never had been good at expressing his feelings.  
Inuyasha fought the urge to just stop and kiss Kagome senseless as he began to run in the direction she had pointed to. He basked in the feel of her legs clamping around his waste and her face burying in his hair. He hadn't had any time alone with her since they had returned from her time, and he was really beginning to have trouble with his pent up sexual tension.  
He could tell that Kagome was also feeling similar, though she seemed more depressed and unsure about it than he was. But he couldn't just comfort her like he wanted to. Not with the others around like they were. What if they heard him?  
"We're getting close." Kagome informed Inuyasha as her grip around his chest tightened. The half demon only nodded in response and picked up the pace. Sango and Miroku, seeing him speed up, understood that they were almost there and prepared their weapons. They hadn't had a battle in quite a while.  
This fight would do everyone good. _____________________________________________________________________ ==============================================================  
"Brrr!"  
Sango watched worriedly as Kagome dived into the cold water, throwing her head back so that her hair whipped through the air as she emerged a moment later, lips blue and shivering as she clutched her arms with her hands.  
"Kagome-chan. If the water is so cold then why don't you wait to bathe?" The taijiya asked in honest curiosity. She had never really understood the younger woman's constant need to bathe though she herself didn't mind relaxing in hot springs. But diving into freezing cold water for the sake of cleansliness. No thank you, she would have to pass on that one.  
"I told you Sango, after that messy battle I really need to bathe." Kagome responded as she poured some shampoo onto her hand and began to lather it into her hair. She was still shivering uncontrollably. "I can't stand being covered in demon guts and stuff. It's so gross!"  
Sango had to laugh at this. Kagome really hadn't been that close to the battle against the spider youkai earlier. Inuyasha had dropped her off a few yards away where she could safely fire her arrows and sill tell him where the shard was without worrying about coming anywhere near the demon.  
Not that it would have really mattered anyways.  
Even with the aid of a shikon shard, the spider demon had been unbelievably weak. Shippo probably could have taken it down with a single fox fire had he not been left once again at Kaede's. Sango and Miroku had merely stood back and watched as Inuyasha cleanly sliced through the creature, ripping out its jewel shard in the same motion. However, something had happened when the hanyou had done so and the youkai's body had exploded, flinging guts and gore everywhere. None of it had quite reached Kagome since she was so far away, or Sango and Miroku as they were in the air on Kiarara's back. But Inuyasha had been covered!  
So when night had fallen, and the group had set up camp, Inuyasha went off to bathe in a river that he said was nearby. Kagome, being Kagome, had immediately jumped at the opportunity to bathe, insisting that she too was covered in guts. Miroku had been more than happy to volunteer to go with her, but after a handprint to his face, one could say that it was decided Sango would accompany the miko.  
"Kagome-chan. Your lips are blue and your shivering!" Sango argued just as the other girl dunked her head under the water to rinse her hair. "Why don't you come out before you get sick."  
"I can't Sango." Kagome replied simply as she began to lather soap on her body with the strange scrubbie thing that she called a shower puff. "I need to be clean."  
Sango sighed and shook her head. "But we need to get back to camp. With Inuyasha gone bathing too then there's no one to keep an eye on Miroku except for Kiarara, and he's gotten past her before." She pointed out as she mentally cursed the fire cat's weakness for being scratched under the chin.  
Kagome's eyes widened for a moment in surprise before reflexively scannning the river bank for any sign of purple robes or a golden staff. "You're right." She finally said, dipping more into the river so that only the very tops of her breast were visible above the water. "Why don't you go back and keep an eye on him? I'll be done soon."  
Sango seemed to hesitate for a moment as she too looked for any sign of the monk spying on Kagome. Finding that there were none though, and seeing the sense in the miko's words, she sighed in defeat and stood up. "Are you sure Kagome?" She asked one last time.  
Kagome merely nodded before continuing with her bath time regime.  
Content that the miko would be alright, and done soon, Sango left, walking back through the woods and mentally warning a certain houshi to pray that he was still at the campsite when she got there. ________________________________________________________________________ ================================================================  
Inuyasha shook his body in a dog-like fashion as he stepped out of the water and onto the bank of the river. Water splashed off of him in thousands of small drops, sprinkling the surrounding trees.  
Content that he was dry enough for the moment, Inuyasha gave one last shiver before grabbing his still slightly damp hakama and under kimono and putting them on. His firerat haori was thicker and would take longer to dry so he merely grabbed it and slung it over his shoulder.  
Pausing only long enough to run a clawed hand through his silver mane to smooth his semi tangled locks, Inuyasha ran off down river. His hair and clothes began to dry as the wind whipped past him, and the movement generated some warmth to his limbs. Before long he was feeling normal and was just about to return to the campsite when he smelt something.  
Kagome.  
And she was alone.  
Partially relieved that no one else was there so that he would have the opportunity to talk to her, and at the same time worried that she was left unprotected, Inuyasha continued to run down the river for a moment longer, never stopping to consider just why she might be at the water in the first place.  
The realization hit him like a dozen bricks as suddenly his eyes were met with a VERY naked Kagome standing on the river bank and rubbing her arms a bit to warm herself up.  
Inuyasha skidded to a silent halt just before he broke through the foliage to where she was standing. Kagome however made no move to alert him that she had noticed his presence. Relieved, he leapt into a tree and waited for her to dress before he talked to her.  
However, that didn't mean that he could take his eyes off of her.  
Inuyasha watched in fascination as her black locks clung to her back, small rivulets of water trickling down her body. Her arms were still crossed in front of her chest, making her cleavage all the more prominent. Inuyasha could feel his throat going dry and gulped as the blood from his brain began to rush southward.  
Kagome leanded forward, unknowingly flashing a certain hanyou a decent view of her ass as she retrieved her pajamas that she had brought with her. Inuyasha fought to contain a moan of protest as first she pulled on her panties, then her pajama pants. He couldn't stop the small whimper that escaped him though when she buttoned her shirt.  
Thankfully she didn't seem to notice as she took a small face towel and tried to use it as best as she could to dry her hair.  
Content that she was now dressed, and honestly unable to remain hidden much longer, Inuyasha jumped from the tree onto the river bank where Kagome was standing. Kagome jumped a little in surprise at the noise from behind her, but the shock soon melted into a warm smile when she saw who it was.  
"Inuyasha."  
Not another word was said as the hanyou rushed forward and engulfed her in a lung crushing embrace, simultaneously capturing her lips with his own. Their movements quickly became feverish at having gone so long without such contact. Inuyasha's hands began to absently rub Kagome's back, one of them sneaking up her shirt as his claws gently traced her spine.  
Kagome let out a short gasp at the feeling and her scent spiked, causing Inuyasha to smirk. So she liked that did she. Inuyasha continued to trace her spine and he bent his head for another kiss. Kagome's hands fisted in his hair, finding his ears and beginning to rub. The hanyou couldn't stop the contented purr from escaping him and was once again grateful that he always wore such baggy clothes.  
A few minutes later they broke apart, gasping for breath.  
Kagome moved back towards Inuyasha, leaning her head onto his shoulder as her chest rose and fell heavily. Inuyasha in turn rested his chin on her hair, panting almost as heavily. His hand that had been under her shirt came out to stroke her hair as Kagome clutched his arms.  
"I thought that you were angry with me." The miko confessed, breaking the silence. Surprised, Inuyasha looked down at her, confusion evident in his eyes.  
"Why would you think that?" He demanded in honest curiosity as his golden orbs bore into her own sapphire ones. Kagome's cheeks darkened to a pretty pink as she averted her gaze.  
"Because you hadn't kissed me since we returned." She whispered in a low voice that, had he not been an inu youkai, Inuyasha wouldn't have heard.  
Inuyasha smiled gently down at her before pulling her tightly to him once again. A second later he pushed her slightly away and lowered his lips to her own, stopping just short of kissing her though.  
"I'm kissing you now aren't I?" He asked, causing his lips to brush against hers with each word spoken. Kagome blushed more, but nodded timidly in response. Inuyasha smirked and pulled her into another passionate kiss.  
When they broke apart the second time, they were once againt breathing heavily. As much as both of them would have liked to continue with their 'activities' they knew that they had to return to camp soon or else the others would worry. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha, not wanting to move from the spot, but knowing they had too, and waited for him to make the first move.  
"Feh. Come one wench." Inuyasha said gruffly as he turned and began to walk away. But not before he had entwined her fingers with his own. Kagome smiled at the gesture and quickly matched his pace, which she happily noted he had slowed so that she would be able to keep up easily.  
As they walked she leaned her head on his shoulder, inhaling his masculine scent with a deep breath. "I do love you Inuyasha." She murmered, knowing full well that he could hear her.  
Inuyasha's cheeks colored for a moment as he glanced down at the girl next to him out of the corner of his eye. "Feh. Of course you do." He replied as he flashed her an arrognant smirk and continued walking.  
Kagome smiled back at him, but she couldn't help the slight twinge she felt that he hadn't said those three words back to her. __________________________________________________________________ ===========================================================  
  
Kagura watched as the couple slowly made their way back to their comrades. Her slender fingers tightened around her fan as she fought the urge to just fight them herself now. It would be so easy to kill them at the moment, catch them off gaurd and without help.  
But she couldn't.  
Naraku had ordered her only to watch, specifying that she was to do nothing to harm them. And he held her heart. She had to obey.  
She continued to watch them as they broke apart a few dozen yards from the camp site. The hanyou pulled the miko into one last passionate kiss before releasing her to walk to the clearing while he stayed behind a moment longer. Most likely so that their companions wouldn't suspect anything was going on between them.  
The fools.  
The wind sorceress continued to watch Inuyasha as she idly pondered why Naraku had sent her in the first place. He could always just watch them through Kanna's mirror. Most likely this was just a test of her 'loyalty'. Some meager task just to irritate her.  
But as if she had any choice.  
Inuyasha began to walk towards the site.  
Kagura remained still until he was gone through the trees. Then she pulled the feather out of her hair and transformed it into a giant one, on which she jumped onto and took flight.  
Time to report back to her master. _____________________________________________________________________ =============================================================  
  
So there you are. Hopefully that's not really a cliff hanger for you guys. I decided to be nice and not leave one since I haven't updated in so long. ^_^  
  
So..REVIEW...and let me know what you think.  
  
REVIEW!  
  
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(please?) 


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